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 From the minute I saw the Horl 2 Knife Sharpener, I immediately thought what a great-looking product it is. It is something that I would definitely be happy sitting on my kitchen work surface rather than shoved away in a drawer, like other knife sharpeners I own. An efficient, effective, and truly unique knife sharpener suitable for both Western and Japanese blades. 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. 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.

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 I was a little worried about some of my larger chef’s knives that they would be too large. The Horl 2 had no problem with the ones up to 2″ in depth. The diameter of the Horl 2 is 2″ so as long as you don’t have a knife bigger than this the Horl 2 will work fine. 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.

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 Let's start by giving some more information about the HORL 2. When you sharpen your knife with a 'normal' sharpening stone, you move the knife over a sharpening stone. The HORL is different, because with this system you roll the stone alongside the edge of the knife. You don't need water, and a magnet ensures that your knife will automatically use the right sharpening angle. What do you need? Attach the blade, edge side up, to the side of the angle support suitable for your blade. It will stay in place because of strong anti-slip magnets. With one hand holding down the angle support, roll the coarse sharpening stone along the other side of the blade’s edge. Do this up to 10 times for a very dull knife, and less for a moderately dull knife. Turn and repeat for the other side of the blade. Now repeat the process again, on both sides, with the finer honing stone. Visit our blog for a more detailed guide here. You can also sharpen serrated knives (like bread knives) with the HORL 2. For it, however, you don't need the magnetic base. The reason is that the edge of a serrated knife is, in general, not enhanced with a 15 or 20-degree angle and you cannot change the angle of a serrated knife. Compared to other types of knives.

I also had no reservations about sharpening my Blenheim Forge knives using the Horl 2, which I had never sharpened since having them. This was because I was nervous about my knife sharpening skills and was concerned about damaging them. I had considered paying someone to do them (or asking my local butcher nicely) but now there is no need. 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. 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. An efficient, effective, and truly unique knife sharpener suitable for both Western and Japanese blades. This advanced model has a planetary wheel mechanism that lets it work 3x faster. 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.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 It is hard to over-emphasise just how satisfying this process is. I felt confident that I couldn't mess up my blade's edge, and the end results have been uniformly impressive, on everything from cheapo German utility knives to expensive Japanese ones made of Damascus steel. There are two parts to every HOR L sharp ener – the angle support and the sharp ener . The sharp ener has a coarse sharp ening disc on one end and a finer hon ing disc on the other . To sharpen a knife, set the blade, upturned, against the side of the angle support. Sharpening happens in three steps:

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. 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. 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.

What is the HORL 2?

In terms of the process, it could not be simpler to do. It really is effortless, and it actually feels very controlled. This gave me confidence that I was getting consistent results, as the process feel very precise. This is very true if I compare it to using the ‘traditional’ knife sharpener. 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. 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.