Patent ID: 8585462

Claim:
An electrically powered sharpener for sharpening the cutting edge of a cutting instrument having a blade with one or more facets which converge toward each other to form the cutting edge at their intersection, said sharpener having at least one pre-sharpening stage, at least one sharpening member having an abrasive surface with abrasive particles in said pre-sharpening stage, a final stage in said sharpener, at least one final stage sharpening member having an abrasive surface with abrasive particles in said final stage, and electrically powered drive structure for moving all of said pre-sharpening stage sharpening members in the same first direction from the edge into the blade to place the edge under compression and for moving all of said final stage sharpening members in a same second direction which differs from said first direction and which moves out of the edge to place the edge under tension.