Blue Button

Does anyone use a rotary blade sharpener? Does it work and is it worth the money?

Lee in Richmond

I had a manual one for a time, but didn't feel it helped. Besides, I suspect my actual problem is nicks, not dullness.

daisydawg

I have the True Cut Sharpener. Works ok, take it to my quilting group for the ladies to use. They love it but I think it is a quick fix. New blades are always better in my opinion.

Kitsie

If you "search" this board, you will find many posts on the same subject. The great majority of us seem to feel the best thing to do is to buy new blades. If you go online and search for blades there are many good deals.

Onebyone

I was told by a professional knife sharpener, Always sharpen a sharp blade and it will never go dull. I sharpen my blade before every cutting job. I use the vertical Grace Sharpener. If the blades starts to skip then I replace it with a new one. My blades lasts a long time.

Bree123

I can't for the life of me figure how they would work properly. Sharpening a knife with a slightly curved blade is tricky enough because in order to sharpen it, you need a particular angle (whatever the angle was at which the blade was originally manufactured). Every knife is different, and a professional sharpener will know or look up the angle for your particular brand & type of knife to recreate that angle when s/he is sharpening it.

So the first problem I see is that any one rotary sharpener would likely not be the correct angle for every brand of blades. The second issue is trying to maintain a consistent angle on a rotating circular blade so that it sharpens & does so evenly all the way around the blade. And finally, I kind of agree with Onebyone. Although, I think instead of sharpening the blade, it's actually honing the rotary blades. To get any benefit from honing, the blade must already be sharp. If you wait until it starts to dull, it's definitely too late (even if it's the proper angle for your brand of blades & somehow manages to make consistent contact with the blade all the way around)

Honing isn't a bad thing. It's what they do at the knife sharpener shop when you bring them a pizza cutter. It can prolong the life of the blade if done properly. Still, with an average price of $3.25-3.50 at Walmart & Amazon for genuine Olfa 45mm blades, I personally would rather not risk a dull, uneven or partially damaged blade so I just buy the replacement ones.

Onebyone

Bree 123 you are right. Honing is the way to keep a blade sharp. That is what the over the counter sharpeners are, honing stones, but it won't sharp a dull blade enough to make a difference with a few swipes or turns. Remember the man sitting and honing their knife blades? Always honing to keep the sharp blade sharp.

tessagin

I just buy new blades and usually with a coupon. I did take note of a comment about tossing the bad blades into a jar for disposal and I have a clear peanut butter jar that all my dull blades and needles go into. I am also using the jar as I go through decluttering some drawers and getting rid of other sharp unwanted objects. DH started doing same thing in his shed with bent nails.

gigi712

I have the true cut manual sharpener. It's the cats meow.

Jane Quilter

Ditto, Lee....this is my situation too