Sharpness Tester SHARP CHECK PT50

Ever wonder how dull your knife is? (Yes I said dull not sharp, but more on that later.) Ever wonder why there are hundreds of knife sharpeners and sharpening stones on the market? Ever wonder just how much sharper your dull knife is after you've sharpened it? You don't know precisely do you? Just how many knife sharpeners have you bought in your lifetime?Many sharpening systems claim to deliver a "Razor Edge", but few deliver. In fact, I suspect that many free hand sharpeners don't achieve a"Razor Edge" in the sense of sharp that a double edge razor blade is or a straight razor is. Now I'm not recommending cutting steak with razor blades, but if your goal is to get your five dollar knife as sharp as high end cutlery, then this device will allow you to measure if you've achieved that goal. And yes that goal is quite attainable.The BESS "C" scale runs from 2000 to 50. A Double edge razor blade will cut the test media at 50. And yes I've tested that, it works. A double edged razor blade blank (unsharpened) is supposed to cut the test media at 2000. I've had one friend's knife clock in at 1900! They had to have been using two hands to use that thing. In that case I found that an AXE file was more suitable to start with than a DMT XXC diamond stone.I've had this for awhile now and have run many hundreds of tests. Prior to purchase I watched all the videos on the Edge On Up website and I encourage you to do so. If you're into sharpening, I suggest you Google "edge on up sharpness tester" and look for the Blade Forums link. While this is not the model discussed in Blade Forums, I felt it would be easier to use. It has not disappointed and is quite easy to use. Do note that you'll have to add 50 grams to the Blade Forum Results to compare to this machine. That's because the model KN100 uses a 50 gram piston and this model does not. But lets not complicated this write up, just add 50 if you want to compare to the Blade Forum experts results.This device has transformed sharpening for me. I now test a knife before I start a sharpening session to see how dull it is. Based on how dull it is, I know exactly what grit I should start with. And then at the end of my grit progression, I test to see if I need to do more work.Anything is easy once you know how. The problem is learning how. This device sure helps with the learning how. Now I know there are those who advocate that trial and error is the best way to learn sharp. But I kind of think old Tom Edison was on to something when he is alleged to have said: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". If you want different sharpening results, turn on the lights and enter the world of sharp.