Patent ID: 7467991

Claim:
An apparatus for sharpening a blade of a knife, comprising: an elongated sharpening member comprising an elongated rod having an outer sharpening surface extending along the length thereof; a sharpening guide comprising a body and an opening extending through the body, the sharpening member extending through the opening, the sharpening guide being movable longitudinally relative to the sharpening member from a rest position to another position longitudinally spaced from the rest position, the sharpening guide having a slot for receiving the blade, the slot extending at a fixed, acute angle with respect to the sharpener surface and configured to position the blade at said acute angle with respect to the sharpener surface and such that at least a portion of the blade can contact the sharpening surface, wherein when the blade can move laterally in the slot and the sharpening guide can move longitudinally relative to the sharpening member, the blade can slidably contact the sharpening surface as it is moved laterally and longitudinally across the sharpening surface; and a biasing member configured to move the sharpening guide from said another position back to the rest position in a direction parallel to the length of the sharpening member.