Chef's Choice 310 User manual

MODEL 310 INSTRUCTIONS
Diamond Hone®Sharpener
Read these instructions before use.
It is essential that you follow these
instructions to achieve optimum results.
© 2007 EdgeCraft Corp.

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YOU MADE
A GOOD
CHOICE
Congratulations on your selection of the Model 310
Chef’sChoice®Diamond Hone®Sharpener. It will put an
incredibly sharp edge on all your kitchen, pocket and fillet knives.
Although the Chef’sChoice®Diamond Hone®Sharpener is
easy to use, it is important that you read through this
instruction booklet thoroughly before you use the sharpener
to optimize your sharpening results.
Gourmet cooks and sportsmen world-wide acknowledge the
value of a fine cutting edge. As an owner of a Chef’sChoice®
sharpener you have the finest and easiest system presently
known to place incredibly sharp edges on all your knives. For
the first time it will be a joy to sharpen your knives. Remember,
a sharp knife is a safe knife because you expect it to be sharp
and respect it. With the Chef’sChoice®you will be able to place
better than razor sharp edges on your knives regardless of the
type of steel or the quality of the knife.
You will find your knives stay sharp longer and reward you with
years of superior performance. Whether you are cutting, slicing
or chopping, it will be a pleasure.
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IMPORTANT SAFEGUARDS
When using electrical appliances, basic safety precautions should always be
followed including the following:
1. Read all instructions.
2. To protect against electrical hazards, do not immerse the Chef’sChoice®in water or
other liquid.
3. Make sure that only clean knife blades are inserted in the Chef’sChoice®.
4. Unplug from outlet when not in use, before putting on or taking off parts and
before cleaning.
5. Avoid contacting moving parts.
6. Do not operate any appliance with a damaged cord or plug or after the appliance
malfunctions, or is dropped or damaged in any manner.
U.S. Customers: You can return your sharpener to EdgeCraft’s factory for service where
the cost of repair or electrical or mechanical adjustment can be estimated. When the
electrical cord on this appliance is damaged, it must be replaced by the Chef’sChoice
distributor or other qualified service to avoid the danger of electrical shock.
Outside U.S.: Please return your sharpener to your local distributor where the cost of repair
or electrical or mechanical adjustment can be estimated. If the supply cord of this appli-
ance is damaged, it must be replaced by a repair facility appointed by the manufac-
turer because special tools are required. Please consult your Chef’sChoice distributor.
7. CAUTION! This appliance may be fitted with a polarized plug (one blade is wider than
the other). To reduce the risk of electric shock, this plug will fit in a polarized outlet
only one way. If the plug does not fit fully in the outlet, reverse the plug. If it still does
not fit, contact a qualified electrician. Do not modify the plug in anyway.
8. The use of attachments not recommended or sold by EdgeCraft Corporation may
cause fire, electric shock or injury.
9. The Chef’sChoice®Model 310 is designed to sharpen kitchen knives, pocket knives
and most sport knives. Do not attempt to sharpen scissors, ax blades or any blade that
does not fit freely in the slots.
10.Do not let the cord hang over edge of table or counter or touch hot surfaces.
11.When in the “ON” position, the Chef’sChoice®should always be on a stable countertop
or table.
12.WARNING: KNIVES PROPERLY SHARPENED ON YOUR CHEF’SCHOICE®WILL BE
SHARPER THAN YOU EXPECT. TO AVOID IN URY, USE AND HANDLE THEM WITH
EXTREME CARE. DO NOT CUT TOWARD ANY PART OF YOUR FINGERS, HAND OR BODY.
DO NOT RUN FINGER ALONG EDGE. STORE IN A SAFE MANNER.
13.Do not use outdoors.
14.Close supervision is necessary when any appliance is used by or near children.
15.Do not use honing oils, water or any other lubricant with the Chef’sChoice®.
16.For household use only.
17.SAVE THESE INSTRUCTI NS.

Press the switch, on the lower right front of the sharpener, to “ON”. Hold knife with the
illustrated grip shown in Figure 4. Place the heel area of the knife blade in the left SHARPEN-
ING slot of Stage 1.
STAGE 1
Using a secure yet relatively loose grip pull the knife towards you allowing the magnet to
position the blade at the proper sharpening angle. Let the magnets control blade angle. Apply
light to moderate downward pressure on the knife blade. Do not apply excessive pressure or
you will stop the orbiting action. Keep the blade level as you pull it through that slot. After you
pull the knife through the left SHARPENING slot, place the knife in the right SHARPENING slot
and pull through in the same manner. Repeat these two (2) steps 15 to 20 times alternating left
and right slots. With relatively new knives, these 20 passes (on each side), will be sufficient to
reangle (“Break-in”) the factory edge.
You can verify that the “Break-in” process is complete by moving your finger carefully across
and away from the edge to feel for a burr.Any burr will be present on the last unsharpened side.
When a burr forms on each successive stroke, the “Break-in” process is complete. With most
knives the burr is relatively easy to feel; however, with harder knives the burr will not be as
evident.With very dull knives or very thick knives more than twenty (20) pulls on each side may
be required to “Break-in” the knife.
You should take approximately three (3) seconds for each pass to pull a 6” long knife through
each slot. A longer blade will require more time; for example take five (5) seconds for a 10”
blade. To sharpen the tip area of the blade, lift the handle slightly as the curved portion of the
blade moves through the sharpening area. Keep the edge portion of blade being sharpened
nominally “parallel” to the table. NEVER PUT THE TIP OF THE BLADE INTO THE SLOT FIRST
AND PUSH THROUGH.
With a new sharpener some diamond particles may tend to “grab” the knife. Less downward
pressure on the knife and “conditioning” of the diamond particles will minimize the tendency
for this to occur. (SEE “SUGGESTIONS”)
Before leaving Stage 1, pull the knife through each slot with four (4) relatively fast pulls— about
one (1) second each, alternating between the left and right SHARPENING slots. This will
complete the “Breaking-in” process.
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SHARPENER
Before using your sharpener you may wish to become familiar with its features.
1. Place Chef’sChoice®Diamond Hone®Sharpener on a level table or kitchen counter surface.
Do not plug the sharpener cord into an outlet.
2. (Refer to Figures 1 and 2). Pick up a kitchen knife and place the heel area of the knife blade
in any of the sharpening slots. Loosen your grip. You will notice that the knife will be pulled
to the side of the slot and into the slot by a magnet.
3. Now, while holding the knife with a secure yet relatively loose grip as in Figure 4, pull the
knife blade towards you while allowing the knife blade to lie against the magnet. Let the
magnet establish the blade angle. Except when sharpening the tip, keep the knife blade
level with the table.
“BREAKING-IN” YOUR KNIFE
When sharpening a knife for the first time with Chef’sChoice®, it is necessary first to
reangle the factory edge– a process called “Breaking-in” your knife. For each knife this is a
one-time operation.
Because factory edge angles vary widely, it is essential that the initial sharpening in Stage 1 be
sufficient to completely reangle the factory edge. This takes extra time. However, once this
“Break-in” process is complete a knife can be resharpened very quickly.
Place the Chef’sChoice®on a sturdy table or counter. Plug the sharpener cord into an
appropriate electric outlet.
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Figure 1. Chef’sChoice®Model 310. Figure 2. Typical kitchen knife.
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Handle
Tip Edge
Heel
Bolster
Sharpening Slots:
n/ ff
Switch
Honing Slots:
Left
Right Left
Right
Stage 1 Sharpening
( rbiting Diamonds®)
Stage 2 Honing
( rbiting Diamonds®)
Figure 3. Magnets control the blade angle. Figure 4. You will find it easier to use a loose grip.
Stage 1. “Breaking-in” knife in Stage 1 will take 15 to 20 passes through each slot, alternating left and right slots.
Subsequent resharpenings require fewer passes in Stage 1. Apply light to moderate downward pressure.
Proper speed, correct sharpening grip
1… 2… 3 seconds, keep knife level

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You can speed the “breaking-in” process by applying light to moderate downward pressure
on the knife in Stage 1. Do not apply any pressure in Stage 2.
2. Slow down! Pull the knife through the sharpening slots slowly. Allow one (1) second for
each two (2) inches of knife blade on the “slow pulls,” i.e., three (3) seconds for a six (6)
inch knife. For optimum results, give yourself at least the full three (3) seconds, and maybe
a little more.
3. Additional pulls through Stage 2. For the ultimate in sharpness make three to four extra
normal pulls through Stage 2 and then make three to four “fast pulls” on each side through
Stage 2. If your knife is not razor sharp, review the suggestions above and repeat the entire
sharpening procedure.
4. Make sure that the knife is kept level. This means that the knife edge should be
maintained in parallel position relative to the table the sharpener sits on. By maintaining it
level, the edge will be sharpened more uniformly. When you sharpen the tip area, lift the
handle up slightly so that the edge along the tip can be maintained “parallel” to the table
and sharpened completely.
5. Your grip on the knife. Let the magnets control the knife position and sharpening angle. To
do this, place the knife in the slot and lean the knife face against the face of the magnet—
then loosen your grip sufficiently so that the magnets can pull the knife into position. Do not
fight the magnets. Apply light to moderate pressure in Stage 1 and no pressure in Stage 2.
With very heavy knives, thick knives or knives with wide cutting edge facets, if there is a
tendency for the knife to chatter or vibrate in Stage 1 or 2, lift up slightly to relieve some of
the knife’s weight pressing on the orbiting diamond plate and slow down a little.
6. Serrated knives. While the Chef’sChoice®sharpener is designed for non-serrated knives,
it will improve the performance of serrated knives by sharpening the tips of the serrations.
Do not oversharpen in Stage 1. With serrated knives, fewer pulls are typically required in
Stage 1 before proceeding to Stage 2. If excessive chattering occurs in Stage 1, skip this
Stage and proceed to Stage 2.
7. Conditioning the diamonds. With a new sharpener some diamond particles may tend to
“grab” the knife blade, particularly small pocket knife blades. Sharpening 3 or 4 large
kitchen knives first, before sharpening pocket knives, will significantly reduce this tendency.
By giving careful attention to these suggestions, all of your kitchen knives will be razor sharp.
Because of the ultra sharpness and perfection of the edge, use of a sharpening steel or any other
sharpening device on your newly sharpened edge will only deteriorate the edge quality.
CHEF’S KNIVES AND PARING KNIVES
The blade of a well designed chef’s knife is curved continuously from the blade tip to the end
near the handle so that, with a rocking action on a cutting surface, the entire blade length will
cut cleanly. Chef’sChoice®will sharpen the entire blade uniformly avoiding a swale common to
other sharpening methods. If your chef’s knife has a heavy bolster near the handle extending
to the edge, a commercial grinder can modify or remove the lower portion of the bolster so that
the bolster will not interfere with proper cutting action of the knife. Chef’sChoice®Model 310
will sharpen the entire cutting edge from tip to the bolster or handle. For this reason, when using
paring knives, it is essential to exercise extreme care to keep fingers away from the incredibly
sharp edge near the handle.
STAGE 2
The final operation is HONING, Stage 2. Using these slots, again take about three (3) seconds
per pass for a 6” blade. As in Stage 1, alternate each pull from one HONING slot to the other.
Do not apply downward pressure on knife in this stage. You should pull the blade through both
HONING slots four (4) to six (6) times. Complete HONING with eight (8) to twelve (12) fast pulls,
(one [1] second each), alternating between the left and right slots.
After sharpening, wipe the blade clean, test for sharpness and use. If the knife is not sharp
enough repeat Stages 1 and 2. Your knife should be razor sharp.
RESHARPENING
After normal use you can resharpen your knife quickly. Starting with SHARPENING (Stage 1)
make eight (8) to ten (10) passes through each slot, alternating left and right. Complete with
eight (8) fast passes each side in Stage 1 before moving to Stage 2. In HONING (Stage 2) make
four (4) to six (6) passes through each slot, alternating left and right. Complete with eight (8)
fast passes each side. In RESHARPENING you are removing only micro amounts of steel imme-
diately adjacent to the edge— a unique feature of Chef’sChoice®that allows you to resharpen
often without any concern for the life of your knife.
SUGGESTIONS
Chef’sChoice®Professional Model 310 is designed to produce incredibly sharp knife edges in
a fast and easy manner. To ensure that you obtain razor sharp edges we suggest:
1. “Breaking-in” Suggestions. “Breaking-in” can be likened to commercial sharpening to
produce a factory-like edge. This is a one time operation for each knife, but it is important
to “break-in” the knife adequately. It is relatively easy to determine what is adequate and
avoid needless removal of excessive steel from your blade edge.You need sharpen in Stage
1 only until the knife edge on successive pulls develops a burr along its entire edge. You can
verify there has been sufficient sharpening by moving your finger carefully across and away
from the edge to feel for the burr. A burr will be present on that last unsharpened side. With
a soft steel knife (and most are soft) you will usually find a burr develops when you have
pulled the knife through Stage 1, 15 to 20 times on each side. With unusually hard steel
knives you may find it necessary to pass through Stage 1 more than twenty (20) times on
each side. With harder steel knives, the burr will not be as evident. Remember, in
Resharpening you need pass through Stage 1 only eight (8) to ten (10) times.
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Stage 2. Four (4) to six (6) passes alternating through each slot, (left and right H NING slots). Apply no downward
pressure in Stage 2.

Assembled in the U.S.A. www.edgecraft.com
This product may be covered by one or more EdgeCraft patents and/or patents pending as
marked on the product.
Chef’sChoice®, EdgeCraft®, Diamond Hone®and the overall design of this product are registered
trademarks of EdgeCraft Corporation, Avondale, PA.
Conforms to: UL 982 Certified to CAN/CSA: C22.2 No.64
Certified to: EN 60335-1, EN60335-2, EN55014-1+Ai, EN 61000-3-2, EN61000-3-3
© EdgeCraft Corporation 2007
I07 C148200
®
POCKET AND FILLET KNIVES
The Model 310 is an excellent sharpener for your favorite pocket or fillet knives. It will put the
same incredibly sharp edges on the entire length of these blades from the tip to the bolster.
The Model 310 Sharpener is not designed for large and heavy hunting knives. For these
types of knives we recommend the Chef’sChoice®Professional 110 Heavy Duty Model or the
Chef’sChoice®EdgeSelect®Model 120.
NORMAL MAINTENANCE
NO lubrication is required for any moving parts, motor, bearing surfaces or sharpening surfaces.
Your sharpener may be cleaned by carefully wiping with a damp cloth. Do not use detergents
or abrasives.
SERVICE
In the event post-warranty service is needed, return your sharpener to the EdgeCraft factory
where the cost of repair can be estimated before the repair is undertaken. Outside the U.S.A.,
contact your retailer or national distributor.
Please include your return address, daytime telephone number and a brief description of the
problem or damage on a separate sheet inside the box. Retain a shipping receipt as evidence
of shipment and as your protection against loss in shipment.
Send your sharpener (postage prepaid) to:
EdgeCraft Corporation
825 Southwood Road, Avondale, PA 19311
Customer Service 1-800-342-3255 or 610-268-0500
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