Furi Tech Edge Review

Furi Tech Edge User Review
3-stage sharpening system for home or professional use

The Furi Tech Edge 3-Stage Sharpening System
User review by Bob Lyle, Milton, Ontario, July 2005

Let me begin by saying that by no means am I a culinary expert, a professional chef or in any way a paid endorser of this or any other product Paul makes available on his web site. I'm probably like many of you - I have a collection of very good quality knives that have been in regular (but by no means rough, commercial or even daily) service for many years, all of which are in need of some serious attention. One knife in particular was damaged from a fall some time ago, as luck would have it by the blade edge taking the full impact. The result was a small knick in the blade that included a tiny 'twist' of the edge making it virtually impossible to use.

I had searched my local telephone directory and online for a sharpening service in my area with no luck, and couldn't find anyone who could recommend a service they had used. Even a major kitchen products specialty retailer in the Toronto area had no-one they could recommend for knife maintenance services. I contacted Paul about the Furi and he said he had sold quite a few in the past and just sold the last one he had to a commercial chef in western Canada. I was willing to wait for more as the few reviews I had seen looked positive enough to give it a try. Unlike motorized sharpeners, the Furi Tech Edge would give me control over virtually all aspects of the process rather than a pre-programmed machine always doing the same amount of grinding and honing.

I've had the Furi for about two weeks as of this writing and I've used it on most of my knives over that period. The knife with the chipped blade was of particular interest to me. The Edge Restorer made quick work of taking out the small rough spot on the edge so the blade could pass smoothly through the next steps. I passed it through the Edge Restorer about 16 to 18 times to remove the rough spot and to take away enough steel to get beyond the original damaged spot on the blade. (Furi says about 6 passes to restore a very dull blade that needs a new edge. This blade was obviously more than just dull!) Just as Furi states in the user's guide, a small amount of metal particles began to collect around the Furi as the knife blade was given it's new lease on life.

Next it was time for the Diamond Fingers. This is the process where I started with all my other knives as they still had an even edge but were just plain dull beyond what honing could correct. I was immediately impressed with the 'feel' of each blade over a series of passes through the Diamond Fingers. For the first couple of passes blades exhibit noticeable resistance as the edge is slowly refined, and after a few more passes they begin to glide through. I could tell the system was working!

On to the final stage - the Hone Fingers. This is said to replace the conventional honing steel, a process that I must admit I was both lackadaisical and not particularly consistent with in the past. The Furi Hone Fingers, like the Diamond Fingers, demonstrated to me the gentle but ever-finer processing of the new edge on each blade, to the point that after a handful of passes each knife was evenly and nearly perfectly restored. The Hone Fingers have become part of my 'every-use' routine, something I never did with a honing steel before as I was never certain that I was maintaining a proper angle and pressure on the blade. The Furi Tech Edge takes almost all of the guesswork away from each stage of maintenance. Sure, how much pressure and how many passes you make on a blade is still a variable compared to a machine, but I'm convinced that with experience and regular use of the sharpened knives I'll quickly develop a 'feel' for proper edge maintenance while extending the life of all my expensive knives well beyond what I thought was reasonable only a few weeks ago.

Only time will tell how long edges restored and maintained with the Furi Tech Edge system will hold up. I don't have a professionally sharpened knife to compare the Furi-restored blades with, but I do have a couple of brand new knives that I purchased from Paul in the past few months to keep score with along side the restored blades. And I'll certainly be using the Hone Fingers to maintain them too.

Give the Furi Tech Edge serious consideration for your in-home knife maintenance routine. It probably can't completely replace the need for professional restoration on badly damaged or extremely dull blades and it can't help serrated knives, but I'm convinced it pays for itself right out of the box if you have a collection of neglected knives like I did!