User Manual

ProntoPro
™
Model 4643
For 15° Asian Style and
20° European/American Knives
The Chef’sChoice
®
ProntoPro
™
Diamond Hone
®
sharpener (Model
4643) manufactured by EdgeCraft is
an exceedingly fast manual sharpener
that will create a highly effective and
durable edge on all of your conventional
kitchen cutlery. It is designed to sharpen
both your 15° Asian double-faceted
blades and all popular European or
American 20° knives. It can also be
used to sharpen pocket, serrated, and
most sporting knives.
You are likely aware of which of
your knives have 15 degree edges and
which have the older 20 degree edges.
Until recently virtually all knives sold in
America were either made in Germany
or the U.S. and these were universally
sharpened at 20 degrees. Around year
2000 Asian style knives sharpened at
15 degrees became popular. Within the
last few years selected European and
America brand knives were introduced
with 15 degree edges. You will probably
want to sharpen each of these at their
original factory angles. However you
can, if you wish sharpen your older 20°
knives using the sharpening procedure
described here for 15° knives. The first
time you sharpen a 20° knife at 15°, it
will take longer to sharpen but after that
the resharpening time will be typical of
15 degree knives.
Do not attempt to sharpen single
faceted Asian (15°) knives such as
the sashimi knives. See section titled
“Specialized Asian Blades.”
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The novel ProntoPro
™
three stage
design, using 100% diamond abrasives,
features a two step sharpening process
for placing a razor-sharp longer lasting
edge on your knife. If your knife is a 15°
Asian blade it must be sharpened first
in the Asian Stage, (Stage 1) and then
the edge is micro-honed and polished
to razor quality in Stage 3 “Polishing &
Serrated”. To sharpen a 20° Euro/
American style blade, it is sharpened
first in the “Euro/Amer”, Stage 2 and
then honed and micro polished in
Stage 3 “Polishing & Serrated”. Always
sharpen with the Chef’sChoice
®
logo
facing you.
Both sides of the knife edge are
simultaneously shaped and sharpened.
The abrasives consist of selected
100% diamond crystals embedded on
unique precision sharpening disks. The
Model 4643 consistently out-performs
conventional manual sharpeners that
use less efficient abrasives and lack
any control of the sharpening angle.
Diamonds, the hardest known material,
are extremely durable.
Knives sharpened in the ProntoPro
™
will have a mild “bite” that helps them
cut effortlessly through vegetables,
fruits and meats. It makes cutting and
slicing a pleasure and removes the
drudgery of working with dull knives.
This sharpener creates a double-beveled
longer-lasting arch-shaped edge which
is stronger than conventional “V”-
shaped or hollow ground edges. This
unique arch structure ensures a sharper
edge that will stay sharp longer.
Serrated knives also can be sharp-
ened in the ProntoPro
™
using only Stage
3 marked “Polishing & Serrated.” (See
later section – Sharpening Serrated
Knives). The special diamonds in that
stage create razor-sharp “micro-
blades” along the dominant serrated
teeth enhancing the cutting action and
reducing the sawing and tearing action
otherwise typical of serrated blades.
Even new “factory-fresh” serrated knives
frequently have poorly formed, dull
saw-teeth that can benefit from sharp-
ening in the ProntoPro
™
. It can restore
dull serrated teeth to better-than-new
condition. The cutting effectiveness of
the serrations depends almost entirely
on the sharpness of the points (edges) of
the teeth. It is not necessary to sharpen
the sides and bottoms of the scallops
between the teeth, since in general,
they are not doing the cutting.
TO SHARPEN ASIAN,
SANTOKU AND OTHER
15° DOUBLE FACETED
EDGE BLADES
Stage 1
To sharpen, hold the sharpener on the
table with your left hand. Insert the
knife blade into the slot of Stage 1,
marked Asian (see Figure 1). Hold the
blade edge level with the table, press
down to bring the knife edge into firm
sustained contact with the “V” between
the two internal diamond coated disks
and slide the blade back and forth
in a sawing-like motion. For optimum
results center the blade (left to right) in
the sharpening slot of Stage 1 and avoid
rubbing the face of the blade against
the walls of the slot. Apply a downward
force of about 4-5* pounds as you move
the blade. Listen carefully to the disks
to insure both disks are rotating when
you move the blade. Sharpening will not
be as effective if you press too lightly
while sharpening.
If your knife, before sharpening, is
not very dull you may find that only
about 10 or less back and forth stroke
pairs in Stage 1(with recommended
downward pressure) will be sufficient to
put a keen edge on the blade. However,
if the knife starts out very dull you may
find that 20 or more back and forth
paired strokes will be needed the first
Figure 1. Asian knives (15° edge) are
sharpened first in Stage 1. Then honed in
Stage 3 (see Figure 2.)
Figure 2. Asian (15°) knives are honed and
polished in Stage 3.
Figure 3. Euro/American knives (20° edge)
are sharpened first in Stage 2. Then honed
in Stage 3 (see Figure 4.)
time as you reshape and sharpen the
old edge. After sharpening in Stage
1, check the edge for sharpness by
slicing a piece of paper. The knife should
cut copier quality paper readily with
only a slight roughness to the cutting
action. When sharp enough, move
the knife to Stage 3 and sharpen as
described below.
*4 to 5 pounds is about the weight of a 2 inch thick
telephone book.
Do not sharpen 15° knives in Stage 2.
STAGE 3 (HONING AND
POLISHING) 15° KNIVES
If the 15° knife has been adequately
sharpened in Stage 1 only 2-5 back and
forth stroke pairs in Stage 3 (see Figure
2) will create a small second bevel
and the edge will be very sharp and
effective. It should cut paper smoothly
allowing you to make straight or curved
cuts easily. If not make a few additional
stroke pairs.
For optimum results center the blade
(left and right) within the slot and keep
the entire length of the blade edge in
contact with the two internal sharp-
ening disks as you hone and polish.
Apply about 3-4 pounds of downward
pressure on the blade in Stage 3.
Hold the blade level, make smooth
consistent strokes while maintaining
recommended downward pressure
and make certain the disks are turning.
Do not hone excessively in Stage 3.
RESHARPENING THE
15 DEGREE KNIFE EDGE
Follow the initial sharpening procedure
for Stage 1 as described above for 15
degree knives, making five (5) pairs
of back and forth strokes in Stage
1 while maintaining recommended
downward pressure. Listen to confirm
the two sharpening disks are turning.
Test edge for sharpness and then