The Best Warthog Knife Sharpener

Buying Guide

Keeping your knifes properly sharpened not only makes cutting more convenient—it’s also much safer than using a dull blade, which can put you at higher risk of injury. Warthog offers a variety of knife sharpeners that are ideal for home cooks, as well as professional chefs, outdoor enthusiasts who hunt and fish and anyone who requires a blade with a superior edge.

While many manual sharpeners shave metal off the blade alongside the length of the edge and require a clamp to keep it at a constant angle, Warthog’s products hone the blade diagonally across the edge at a continuous angle using a blade guide. The company’s flagship product is the V-Sharp Classic II, which uses two 325-grit diamond rods to sharpen flat blades on both sides simultaneously using calibrated spring tension. The steel-frame, powder-coated tool has three adjustable constant angles — 20, 25 and 30 — and is equipped with a solid rubber base to keep it from slipping during usage. Get it in black, gunmetal grey, red, blue, white or orange.

You can purchase additional diamond stones of various configurations for the V-Sharp Classic II, ranging from 270 (extra course) to 1000 grit (fine) and ceramic (perfect for serrated knives). The hones are easily removable and interchangeable, and the manufacturer recommends using a finishing steel hone (included with your purchase) to polish the blade after sharpening. There’s also a variation of the V-Sharp Classic II available that comes with a wooden base.

The more affordable V-Sharp Curve is a smaller option that offers the same spring-loaded 325-grit diamond rods but is about half the size of the V-Sharp Classic II; the design maintains a 25-degree angle and requires no adjustments. Other products available from the Warthog include the V-Sharp Xtreme Edge, an option featuring four snap-in angle adjustments, and the Multi-Edge, a sharpener with infinite angle capacity built to sharpen a variety of blades, including scissors, planer blades and arrows.

• When choosing the right Warthog product, consider what your needs are. If you’re a home cook seeking a reliable sharpener for your chef’s, fillet and other flat-bladed knives, consider the V-Sharp Classic II or the V-Sharp Curve. But if you want to sharpen other types of blades, like scissors, chisels and arrows, the Multi-Edge is a worthy investment.
• The V-Sharp Classic II and V-Sharp Curve arrive fully assembled, set at a 25-degree angle and ready to use.
• To use sharpen a blade with the V-Sharp Classic II or V-Sharp Curve, simply hold the knife against the blade guide and cut down, keeping the blade against the guide like slicing a tomato.
• To find out if your knife needs sharpening, try the paper test. Hold a folded, but not creased piece of newspaper or printer paper by one end with one hand and a knife with the other. A properly sharpened knife will glide through paper, while a dull knife will snag.
• Even the most superior knife sharpener cannot repair extensive damage to a blade (for example: removing large notches).