Smith’s Mesa Diamond Adjustable Electric Knife Sharpener

U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- I’ve conducted Knife Sharpening seminars from Texas to Alaska. In January alone I had one at the Dallas Safari Club Conv. & Expo, two at the SHOT in Vegas and one at the Safari Club International Conv. & Expo in Vegas. If you’ve ever attended one of my Knife Sharpening seminars then you know that I preach about the dangers of using an electric knife sharpener, so you may think it strange that I am all in about the Smith’s Mesa Diamond Adjustable Electric Knife Sharpener. Let me explain.

The reason that I don’t recommend electric sharpeners on a regular basis is that if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can easily grind away the life of your blade. A knife is only good for so many sharpenings, right? And many of my elite hunting knives are $400-$500 knives. But where I do use electric sharpeners is on my cheap kitchen knives.

Obviously, I like to hand sharpen knives on a stone but I cringe like a little girly man at the sight of a mile-high pile of dull kitchen knives. It is a time-consuming project to say the least and will wear me out. With an electric sharpener like the Smith’s Mesa Diamond sharpener, I can whip out a pile of 6-8 knives in less than 2-minutes. So, I do cut corners on my kitchen knives and even my old boning knives. On your old worn-out semi-flex boning knives, you may have trouble sharpening them since they flex when pressure is applied while stoning them.

There is a really cool feature that I like about the Smith’s Mesa Diamond sharpener. It has a simple roll dial that allows you to adjust the stone to your desired angle. How cool is that? If you’ve got some expensive kitchen knives, I’d advise checking with the manufacturer and using their preset angle. If you’re like me and own a lot cheap, as in bought at Goodwill quality kitchen knives then just grind them all at 20 degrees and call it good.

If you like to touch your knife up periodically with smooth steel as I do, then it’s easier to just use one angle so you don’t have to always remember that this knife has a 25-degree angle, the next one is 22 and the next one is 18, etc.

The Smith’s Mesa Diamond Sharpener is super easy to use. Place the hilt of the blade so it contacts the sharpening surface. DO NOT START ON THE TIP! Or you will probably chip the grinding stone. It is probably best to start without turning on the sharpener.

Let’s see if I can clearly write this thought. Rub the edge of the blade, starting at the hilt and progressing to the tip down the stone. As you progress up the blade make sure that it is touching the sharpening surface. Have a focus point on where the contact point is of the blade touching the stone and as you lift the handle of the knife, make sure that the blade is always engaged at that focus point.

Have the machine setting slightly on your strong hand side If it is straight in front of you, then your blade will be slightly slanted. You want the blade straight up and down.

Now turn on the Smith’s Mesa Diamond Sharpener and get after it. I’d suggest running it down the stone 3-4 times and then checking for sharpness. If you’re doing it properly it should not take more than four times unless it is super dull and then it might take 4-8 times. But again, the fewer strokes you do, the longer the life of the blade.

The knife should now be sharp. I will then hit the knife with my smooth steel. One of these days I will write an article for Ammoland on how to properly use smooth steel. You DON’T want to use coarse steel at this stage. Coarse steel is about like a diamond stone and is not needed at this point since the knife has already been sharpened.

So, to save from getting the dreaded carpal tunnel due to using dull knives while cooking for all of your friends, check out the Smith’s Mesa Diamond Adjustable Electric Sharpener. The MSRP is $149.99 and as is usual, we will close with the specs.

Smith’s Diamond Adjustable Mesa features include diamond synthetic abrasive sharpening wheels and blade guides that hold the knife at the correct sharpening angle. The Mesa’s benefits include quick, precise knife sharpening, a guaranteed correct sharpening angle, and it maintains and extends the life of fine knives.

• Provides correct sharpening angle to match that created originally by the knife manufacturer
• Sharpens both sides of the knife at the same time without damaging the knife
• Diamond interlocking wheels remove a minimal amount of metal
• Not for use with ceramic or single-bevel knives
• Saves 55% more counter space over the competition
• Single slot design is 75% faster over competitive sharpeners

About Tom Claycomb

Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman throughout his life as well as an outdoors writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and freelances for numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening for $.99 if you’re having trouble.”