Bought this for my mother as a Christmas gift. She loved it.

An idiot could sharpen knives with this unit and this idiot did! Works great!!

My inlaws wanted a knife sharpener that was cheap and worked well. This is it. Chef's Choice makes some more expensive sharpeners, which I own, but this one works just as well. I sharpened all of their kitchen knives without issue. It's pretty loud though.

The test of this machine came when I pulled out two of my favorite 8 inch chef knives that I've had for a little more than twenty years -- that have never been sharpened. I regularly use a steel on them prior to use (which was a lost cause because the nicks on the edges were too deep) and once, several years ago, there was a hopeless attempt at using a wet stone to put the edge back. What a hideous endeavor. Fail!

After running the most damaged of the two through the machine several times, the end result was nothing less than amazing. The nicked areas were removed and the final finishing touch was miraculous, to say the least. I then sharpened the other knife which, fortunately, had only a few minor nicks in its edge. After spending a few minutes on each knife, it's clear that both of these babies have been given new life and are now better than they were when purchased. They are living a resurrected life with beautiful, razor sharp edges. Fawesome!

Would I recommend the Chef's Choice Diamond Hone Sharpener 270? Absolutely! This turned out to be one of the best kitchen investments I've made ... perhaps it's THE best! One can make do with less than optimal quality tools in the kitchen, but having a beautifully sharpened knife blade, as I've just learned, isn't one of them.

This sharpened all the paring knives that were getting dull, using all three stages. Some other kitchen knives were in better shape and only required stages two and three. The coarse Stage 1 takes off more metal than I would like, so it is for knives that are truly dull. It did sharpen the old Buck 119 hunting knife. That took some care, since the guides are barely wide enough.
Stage three still leaves a more rough surface than I want, and this required some honing. With a little practice and care, it would satisfy anyone less fussy. Still, it rates four stars.

Another reviewer suggested sharpening, waiting several days, and sharpening again. This is a good idea. I avoided Stage 1 the second time around.