Smith’s DCS4 4” Diamond Mixture Sharpener – Double Sided Stone – Outside Subject Knife Sharpener – Fish Hook & Pointed Instruments Micro Sharpener – Light-weight, Compact, Handheld

This thing owns!!!
OK. Am I a professional? NOPE! I also don’t want to spend more than 30 minutes creating the perfect edge. Sharp knife (real sharp) in 5 minutes (tops) = perfect. What do I own: Smith’s Adjustable Edge Pro (electric), Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, YUKSY Premium Knife Sharpening Stone Kit. What do I want to try: KME Precision Knife Sharpener System or a great knock off (you know what I mean). Back review: Smith’s: chips your blades and just is not good = regret this purchase, this thing is bad. Spyderco – best that I own, sweet edge, lotta time to get the edge. YUKSY (or any stone system) – wet it, takes time = good results. THIS THING – holy cow! GIMMME 40 seconds and I will put a razor edge on just about anything! People bitch about the handle – don’t need it. This has sweet tip sharpener – well thought out! I am a perfectionist – I would like to find the perfect system. This may be it. But I’m still going to try the KME (want to see a mirror edge). If you are looking for scary sharp (legit splitting an eyelash dropped on the edge), keep looking. If you want to see an edge that is way sharp for 100% cutting purposes, this is your tool. This is my tops – I’ll feedback if I match it against a KME.

Practical Sharpener
I think this is a useful and practical sharpener, but tends to be a jack of all trades: It offers flexibility but doesn’t do one thing exceedingly well. Here are some observations based on my experience:Pros:Combination of Coarseness: I like that this tool comes with both a coarse and fine stone. I have various knives and blades in various conditions: Sometimes a fine stone is just not enough to bring back a neglected edge to where it should be and I find the coarse stone is just what I need. While I think the descriptions are reasonably accurate, this stone does take a learning curve to master. Initially, both sides act coarser than they should be, as the diamonds break and wear to a more consistent surface. It will seem, then, that it quickly loses its effectiveness, when in reality it is just breaking in.Utility: On both sides of the stones, there is a flat patch for very small blades, which is nice. There is also a groove on both stones for sharpening points of, say, fish hooks or needles. I’m not sure how often I’ll be sharpening my fish hooks, but it’s a thoughtful feature. The cover turns around to form a handle and, though made of plastic, it has held up well and doesn’t allow the stone to shift when sharpening. Unlike a more traditional stone meant to sit flat on a surface, this one is best held at an angle, keeping the tip held on a surface with the handle. This is how I’ve been using it and find that works best for me. The relatively small size of this sharpener requires a different technique than having a large stone to work on, using both hands on the blade, when the stone sits on a flat surface. Overall, this stone is able to sharpen a broad range of edges, whether on knives, wood carving tools, etc.Effectiveness: I have found this stone to be effective sharpening a range of tools, from my high carbon kitchen knives, to my EDC folder, to my stainless multitool blades. It works, and I’ve been happy with it.Cons:Size: I’m not sure this is a con, but I find this tool somewhat awkward to use. Ideally, I prefer sharpening my tools, whatever they are, in the comfort of my shop, using both hands, on a large stone. With this, you just can’t do that. Ah, you say, it’s not meant for that! True… but I find myself, more often than not, sharpening my knives back at home after backpacking or camping, rather than on site where I can’t do as good a job at it. I like its versatility and I do think it works really well. It’s just that… this usually isn’t the one I reach for. Would I use this one when I’m at home versus the larger stones on my bench? No. Would I take this one backpacking? No, because I’d be going into the back country with sharp blades to begin with and I’m certainly not going to carry something this heavy unless it’s essential. Would I keep it in my truck? Mmmmm…. maybe, but 9 out of 10 times I’d be bringing my blades back home to sharpen anyway. Would I want this if I had to bug out due to zombie attack? Well, of course I would!!! But that hasn’t happened yet and I’m starting to wonder if it will…Other Thoughts:This is a good quality, multi-purpose, compact sharpener at a pretty decent value. There are plenty of purists out there who would howl at the thought of allowing their blades to touch anything but crazy-expensive exotic water stones. Whatever. Unless you’ve just dropped your (or your kid’s) college tuition on a blade that will never, ever be used for fear of getting a nick on the edge, this sharpener will work just fine and will give you a decent-to-near-scalpel edge if you use it properly. (with or without stropping for you edge geeks)The question is, is this the right tool for you? Personally, I find myself reaching for the stones that are dedicated to my bench top most often, and so this one ends up living in my camping gear. If you are short on space, though, or find yourself with a more portable lifestyle, this sharpener may be for you. Four stars for a quality sharpener at a great price.

Works great
I bought this one as a replacement for the same model I bought about 15 years ago. My old one finally lost most of it’s dimond grit. The new one made me wonder why it took me so long to replace the old one. The only drawback is that the new ones handle does not fit very snug into the sharpening stone part. Since I just keep it in my kitchen knife drawer I decided to glue both handle and stone Parts together now it works perfect.

Great quality at a reasonable price
This sharpener utilized Smith’s interrupted diamond surface that also incorporates a small area of continuous diamond surface for sharpening pointed tools as well as a groove for sharpening fish hooks. This sharpener is also double-sided, and both sides utilize all of the features mentioned above.The yellow Coarse side is 325 grit, and the orange Fine side is 750 grit. The diamond portion of the sharpener pulls out of the handle and can be flipped around to stow nice and neatly in the handle when not in use.I’ve personally found that this sharpener is a little on the heavy side, especially when compared with it’s direct competition such as the DMT dual-sided diafold sharpener. The DMT feels as though it’s nearly half the weight of this Smith’s sharpener, however the DMT is nearly double the cost of the Smith’s and does not feature an uninterrupted diamond area, or a fish hook sharpening groove. For the price, I don’t mind carting a little extra weight.The handle of this sharpener features rubber areas for increased traction to aid in keeping a secure grip while sharpening with wet hands. The bottom of the handle also features some drainage ports to allow any water to escape if the sharpener were to be submerged in water. I would still however recommend to always dry the diamond surface of the sharpener before storing it.Performance wise, this sharpener has done really well. It is more than capable of putting a nice serviceable edge on any blade. The diamonds cut quite fast and I really enjoy how durable to sharpener feels. I really don’t have to worry about breaking this sharpener when stowing it in my hiking pack. For around $15, I think this is an excellent buy.

Easy to handle. Best stone for sharpening knives

J’ai essayé pas mal de solutions pour aiguiser convenablement mes couteaux et cet outil est de loin celui qui m’a le plus donné satisfaction !J’ai volontairement attendu avant de publier ce commentaire car je souhaitais avoir un peu de recul sur son utilisation.Parfait !!