KME Sharpeners KFS Knife Sharpening System - Standard Stone Kit

Pardon in advance for the long review. I rarely write them, however felt compelled to do so given the exceptional service and satisfaction that I received with the KME knife sharpening system. I have had limited success throughout the years with numerous knife sharpeners. Many of these required the user to position the knife at a certain angle for optimal results. This is difficult to accomplish unless you have an extremely steady hand. There are other so called "guided sharpeners" on the market that I used, however I found that they did not hold a consistent angle like the KME. The beauty of the KME system is that it nearly eliminates all human error allowing you to obtain a repeatable, smooth and consistent bevel on all of your knives. The unit feels sturdy and is constructed of high quality materials all of which are made in the USA. The instructions were easy to follow, however there was a short learning curve involved. I had some difficulty at first getting the edge I desired. I called Ron at KME and he determined that I was putting too much pressure on the stones instead of letting them do the work on their own. In addition, I needed to increase the number of strokes across the blade while slowing down a bit. He reiterated the importance of the three "finishing up" strokes which are outlined in the instructions. Once solved, I was able to shave hair after sharpening my knife with only the coarse stone! I then moved on to the medium stone and experienced even better results, shaving similar to a hand held razor (only one swipe needed to remove the hair on my leg). I experienced a problem with the white fine stone. It seemed to make my knife duller. I contacted Ron at KME and he quickly determined that I received a stone from a bad batch. He overnighted me a new stone that worked properly. I was able to put a razor sharp mirror finish on my Kershaw knife. This review would not be complete without talking about the exceptional service I received from Ron at KME. I had additional questions over the next several days that were easily resolved. I was always able to reach him by phone on the number listed at the bottom of the KME website. Messages were returned promptly. I can be a bit of a perfectionist and probably called him at least five times. Not once did he make me feel like I was bothering him. Such a commitment to great customer service is to be commended. It goes without saying that I highly recommend the KME knife sharpening system! RF Ocala, FL

This has to be one of the best sharpeners I have ever owned. The only gripe I have is the handle seems backwards in relation to how one would normally hold. Other then that I can look past the small issue when it comes to how accurate and sharp it gets my knives.

Its made very well and a very great improvement over similar concepts. i found the jaws to be the weak link. heavy knives, flexible blade knives and knifes with a very long blade will still be sharpened on my modified belt sander. if the jaws were made of steel not aluminum the system would be much better, i just could not get the blade tight enough.

I spend a lot of my time hunting and traveling in wilderness areas, so use fixed-blade sheath knives and larger lock blades frequently. However, I have never been good at sharpening them up to a razor edge, and the edges I do get by hand-honing do not last. Recently I read up on the KME system and watched some you-tube shorts on the product. The mechanical principles seemed sound - so I bought the Arkansas stone system, plus the base (a seperately-purchasable product). In short, it works very well on all large knives, but does not operate properly on small pocket or pen knife blades. I was able to get a flawless, razor blade edge on each of my large knives within a couple of hours. Small blades cannot be clamped far enough out in the jaws, so the stones do not clear and then file away the jaws themselves. The instructions are very good, but you tube was again helpful. The base unit is not necessary so don't buy it unless you need a display rack for the sharpening unit. The Arkansas stones work fine (4, of decreasing grits, provided), but could break easily if dropped as they are thin, yet the diamond stones are more expensive and seem to be more touchy to use. The system's case is blow-molded plastic with good locking lugs, but is much larger than necessary for the kit components. You couldn't easily backpack the system, much less the case, into remote wilderness, so you'll need to still carry a touch-up stone after you leave camp or the shop behind. I like this product, though my steadier-handed friends think it is way unnecessary, and can recommend it with the above limitations.

Just got my sharpener last night. My father and I decided to go in on it together, he's trading beers for sharpened knives. Not wanting to ruin the edge on a regularly used knife I grabbed one from the work kitchen that would have been overachieving if it cut butter. I started in on it per KME's instructions, and within just a few minutes i had the knife sharp enough to shave hair on the brown (2nd coarsest) stone. Moving through the rest of the set the knife's edge became more refined and I ended up with several more bald patches on my forearm. The jig keeps everything lined up just as you expect it will. Parts feel well made, and tolerances are tight. You won't sharpen a sword with this thing, but the guide rod is long enough to get the entire length of a 12"+ chef's knife. It was easy enough to make a homemade stand, although I saw someone else say differently, I found the socket for the post to be 1/2" diameter. I'm looking forward to the freedom of being able to make my own grinding stones with automotive sandpaper mounted to glass blanks in the future. Short version: buy it.

Wrecked my nice kitchen knives. I read and followed the directions to the letter. The stones scratched up the sides of the blades badly. They also ground down the part of the sharpener itself that clamps the blade. I can't get my knives sharp anymore. They are a 10" chef knife, a 6" boning, and a 3" steak knife. The tips were also rounded. Dissapointed in product. Maybe it was user error, but I followed the included directions implicitly. I wanted the wicked edge, but I cheaped out and went KME. Bad decision. Will try to return or sell it someway somehow.