Horl 2 roller grinders walnut and magnetic grinding gauge

Product Information

HORL knife sharpeners give you the precise sharpness of a whetstone in a fraction of the time, thanks to 1) a magnetic angle support that sets the optimal sharpening angle and 2) a rolling mechanism that grinds sharpening and honing stones against the edge of your blade. Do make sure that after you sharpen your knife you clean the silicone rubber and the knife to prevent scratches. Other sharpening angle than 15 or 20 degrees Subsequently, you can sharpen or hone with just a few passes, particularly if you're going for a 'little and often' approach to blade maintenance. The views expressed in this summary table are from the point of view of the reviewer’s personal use. I am not a member of the armed forces and cannot comment on its use beyond that covered in the review. Be prepared to be dirty! The grinding will result in small metal particles and metal dust that will be all over the place in no time! The grinding will result in small pieces of metal and metal dust being generated.

I have a couple of ‘traditional’ knife sharpeners, where you have fine and coarse slots you run your knife along, before finishing the process with a knife sharpening rod. The Horl 2 is nothing like these sharpeners and is very unique and I would also argue very innovative. It is very easy to bump the sharpening stone into the knife bolster or handle. I use masking tape to protect these areas from damage. Despite all my attempts to vary the position of the magnet etc, I cannot seem to get the far end of the knife sharp. The part close to the handle: excellent! Not so much the other end. The difference is so noticeable that my wife commented on the difference in sharpness unsolicited! This is where I cannot get the knife sharp: when the blade curves in the far end. It is as if the sharpening is really easy to get right close to the handle, but not so much towards the pointy end.The instruction manual gives guidance to both narrow blades and so called “extremely broad blades”. Apparently my knifes are not in any of these extremes, as I have been able to use the HORL 2 Cruise on all my knifes with not problems. Except for my ceramic knife, that obviously does not work with the magnet. Conclusion The Horl 2 is really well built and feels like a quality product. It is really easy to use and the end results are exactly what you would expect. The price may put you off, but this is a quality product made in Germany and will help you maintain your knife sets, that you may have made a significant investment in. If you buy this product I don’t think you would be disappointed. The result is … okay. I am not excited. I really thought I would get super sharp knives, and they do get better, but to my surprise it seems to be a little random still. Some knives becomes very good, others less so. I’ve used the Horl 2 on my full knife set over the past few weeks. This includes my range of Wüsthof knives, the Starrett BBQ set of knives to my ‘special’ ones from Blenheim Forge. Across these, there are different types of knives all in a range of sizes.

Something that might be a ‘pro’ for one user can be a ‘con’ for another, so the comments are categorised based on my requirements. You should consider all points and if they could be beneficial to you. Once your blade is thus angled just right, all you have to do is run the business end of the Horl 2 along it. This is a pleasingly hefty little barrel that has a sharpening steel surface on one end, and a ceramic honing disk on the other. When sharpening a knife for the first time with it, you will need to roll it up and down along the edge of your knife for several minutes. This is to 'train' the edge to the Horl 2's specifications. You then reverse the knife on its magnetic mount to sharpen the other edge of the blade. It could be that your knife needs a coarser-grit stone, as that tends to be the case for extremely dull knives. The standard diamond stone of the HORL has an approximate grit of #420; as this is a low grit and diamonds are exceptionally hard, over one minute of using this stone should sharpen an extremely dull knife. However, if you find that is not working well, you can use the even coarser Coarse Diamond Stone Attachment (compatible with HORL 2 and HORL 2 Pro models only), which has an approximate grit of #200. With one hand holding down the angle support, use the rolling sharpener to sharpen the other side of the blade. If your knife is dull, sharpen with the coarse disc first, then flip the sharpener and hone with the fine disc. If you are just maintaining an already sharp edge, use the honing disc only. Horl is a German company based in Freiburg in Southern Germany, which not only headquarter there but manufactures their product in Germany. They want to ensure the quality of their product and having manufacturing-based locally together with many of their suppliers helps them ensure this. First Impressions

Price

If your knife is particularly large –a cleaver for instance –it's still possible to use the Horl 2 with a little effort, as you can place the knife mount on your work surface and then use a bread board or similar to elevate the sharpener. After using the HORL 2 for some time, I ended up buying a more traditional sharpening steel. The sharpening steel is actually built into the HORL 2 solution, so it may seem like a superfluous step. But I did find that I got better results if I used the sharpening steel from a more traditional solution. I still use the HORL 2 stone for the initial sharpening but finish off the job now with a traditional sharpening steel. I now get results that even my wife praise. And you know what they say: Happy wife = happy life. Related reading The version I've been testing is the 'standard' Horl 2, which has an exceedingly pleasing, natural wood finish. You can also get the more affordable Horl 2 Cruise, which has a white painted finish and only a 20º sharpening angle. True connoisseurs may crave the Horl 2 Pro, which uses 'planetary gearing' to send its barrel edges whirling around three times faster than by manual rolling alone. That is a touch pricier, mind. Horl also offers a number of video tutorials to help you when using the product for the first time but it really is very easy. The Verdict

Attach the blade to the side of the angle support suitable for your blade. The blade will stay in place because of the strong, anti-slip magnets. In terms of time, the estimate of 1 to 5 minutes is really spot on and the results are fantastic. I did all my knives in one sitting and found it a pretty relaxing process. I’m a bit divided here. Intuitively and looking at the design, this solution should work! It does take the biggest uncertainty out of the equation for manual sharpening of knives: the angle between steel and stone. It should turn an amateur like me into a pro. The problem is, as they say, that reality does not always follow armchair logic. And this is one of those cases.Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years. The HORL 2 sharpener and angle supports are made with high-quality materials that will last for a long time. The diamond disc will never need to be replaced, as diamonds are harder than any knife steel, while the honing and corundum stones usually last for 3-6 years. The higher the grit, the sooner the stone will wear down. Where to buy the HORL 2