Smith's Edge Knife Giveaway

I've had a love-hate relationship with my knives. I don't like to think about them but I use them all the time which tends to have disastrous results.

Because I've never taken the time to sharpen my knives except maybe three times over the course of my marriage I have a history of lopping off fingers here and there with my dull and poorly functioning blades. Drives Andrew crazy I tell you.

Well I was sent some knife sharpeners from Smith's Edge, a company that specializes in sharpening all kinds of things and you know what? They worked great.

They sent me one of their diamond sharpening steels but I haven't really found a time to use it--plus having to worry about getting the angle just right always makes me nervous.

But they also sent me the free-standing knife and scissors sharpener you see above and a ceramic pull-through sharpener. I used them both and was surprised how easily they sharpened (who knew kitchen safety was so attainable??)

If you're looking for a knife sharpener here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Look for a sharpener that has both a coarse and a fine grit.
• "Arkansas Stones" are considered some of the finest sharpeners and are known for sharpening tools while taking off the least amount of material.
• Carbide materials are much more thorough, take away more material and sharpen in three or four strokes.
• A flat stone is good for flat tools but a round stone or rod is necessary for serrated edges.

Anyway, I liked the tall sharpener because it easily handled scissors and I happily went around sharpening all my scissors in the house. However, I liked the smaller tool too because it fit nicely in my kitchen drawer--convenient for storage. Both put good edges on my knives and both were easy to use.

Courtesy of Smith's Edge one winner this weekend will get to choose their own sharpener of the three I've mentioned here--you can decide which of these three fill your own personal knife sharpening needs the best.

Here's how to win:

Before 12 am Monday morning click here to reach the giveaway entry form then enter your name and email. I will pick one of the names at random, contact the winner via their email and publish the winner's first name and home town in next Tuesday's post. See the bottom of the entry form for more details.

This giveaway is open to all readers so good luck!