American knife sharpeners come from a Massachusetts plant that bonds diamond to steel plates, a Minnesota family business that has made sharpening guides and steels for meat plants since the 1970s, a New Mexico maker of guided sharpening systems, an Iowa knife maker's hand-held sharpener, and the Pennsylvania-born Chef'sChoice electric sharpeners.
A sharpener's abrasive does the work, so where the diamond, stones or wheels come from matters as much as where the sharpener is put together. Each listing is rated for the company's most American-made line and names what is known to come from elsewhere.
Ranked by Made in USA level, highest first; ties are in alphabetical order. The level measures how much is made in the USA, not product quality. How the levels work
Rada Cutlery makes the Quick Edge, a hand-held sharpener with hardened stainless steel wheels for its smooth-edged knives, sold alone and in its knife sets. The Waverly, Iowa company has made knives and kitchen tools since 1948.
Rada's Quick Edge page lists "COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION USA," "WHEEL MATERIAL Surgical-Quality, T420 High-Carbon Stainless Steel" and "100% USA MADE." The wheels are hardened steel, not ceramic or diamond abrasive. Knife Country USA lists its country of origin as the USA.
Rada says all its products and materials are American. The page doesn't say whether the sharpener is made in Waverly or by another US maker, or where the wheel steel comes from.
Production history: see the Rada Cutlery listing on our cutlery page; no change in where the sharpener is made was found.
Our rough estimate: the steel wheels and resin body are nearly all of the value and are said to be US made; if the wheel steel were imported, it would be up to about 30%.
Level 4.5 for its Quick Edge knife sharpener: Rada lists the Quick Edge as produced in the USA with US materials; it doesn't say where the sharpener is made or where its wheel steel comes from.
DMT (Diamond Machining Technology) makes diamond sharpeners for kitchen, outdoor and shop use, including Dia-Sharp and DuoSharp bench stones, Diafold folding sharpeners, diamond steels and lapping plates. Founded in 1976 in Massachusetts, DMT has been owned by Acme United since 2016.
DMT's FAQ, asked whether all its products are made in the USA: "The majority of our products are made in the US ... Some products feature sharpening stones made in the US but are built using components that are sourced from other countries. Other products, like those in our EdgeSharp line, are fully imported." Its older History page still says all products are made in Marlborough.
Acme United's 2025 annual report lists a 28,000 sq ft Marlborough, Massachusetts plant for DMT sharpening tools, where DMT prepares its steel plates and bonds micronized monocrystalline diamond to them. Where the diamond grit and plate steel come from isn't published.
Production history: made in Marlborough since the 1970s; Acme United bought DMT's assets in February 2016 and said it would keep the operation in Massachusetts, which it has. Since 2023 Acme has added imported DMT lines: Knife Country lists the EdgeSharp XChange as made in China, and 2026 import records show PocketSharp and electric sharpeners shipped from a Chinese supplier.
Our rough estimate: for the diamond plate sharpeners, the diamond grit and plate steel (origin unknown) are about 5–20% of the value; the EdgeSharp line is entirely imported.
Level 4 for its diamond bench stones and Diafold sharpeners: DMT still makes its diamond plate sharpeners in Marlborough, coating the plates with diamond there, but doesn't say where its diamond and steel come from, and its own FAQ says some DMT lines are imported.
Razor Edge Systems makes knife sharpening guides, hones, Mousetrap and Razor Steel sharpening steels, edge testers and sharpening kits for home use, and central sharpening systems for meat and poultry plants. The Juranitch family business has made sharpening tools in Ely, Minnesota since the early 1970s.
Razor Edge's home page: "Every product is manufactured in the USA," and its About page: "All our products are USA-manufactured and quality control tested." Its retail shop sells hones, guides, steels, kits and scissor sharpeners for home use.
OSHA records for the Ely plant list machine tool manufacturing with roughly 20–30 employees and citations for abrasive wheel machinery (2010) and chromium exposure (2014), which shows metal grinding on site. Michigan Tech Magazine (2015) says the firm "manufactures sharpening tools, primarily for the meatpacking industry." What its hones are made of and where they come from isn't published.
Production history: in Ely since the 1970s; family-run, with Joe Juranitch leading research and development. No move, sale or closure was found; it filed a new trademark in January 2024. No 2025–26 news was found.
Our rough estimate: for guides and steels, imported content is likely 0–15%; for hone kits, it depends on where the stones are made and could be up to about 40%.
Level 4 for its sharpening guides, hones and steels: Razor Edge makes its sharpening guides and steels in Ely and says every product is US made, but it doesn't say where its hones come from, and no one outside the company confirms it.
Wicked Edge makes guided knife sharpening systems that clamp the knife and sharpen both sides at a fixed angle with diamond and ceramic stones, from its Generation 4 Pro and WE40 to the portable Venture series launched in 2025. Founder Clay Allison began developing the sharpener in 2007, and the company is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Wicked Edge's Why Wicked Edge page, under "Made in the USA": "Before leaving our facility, every unit undergoes a thorough inspection and quality check," and its products use "airplane-grade aluminum and injection-molded components made from 100% recycled materials." Its FAQ says it designs, manufactures and assembles in the USA, in small batches.
In a March 2025 video introducing the Venture series, founder Clay Allison says: "all of our products are machined here in the US, assembled by people at our facility in Arizona and here in Santa Fe, New Mexico." The machine shops aren't named, and Wicked Edge doesn't say where its diamond and ceramic stones are made.
Production history: developed from 2007 in Santa Fe; no sale or move found. An undated forum post from the brand's early years quotes the founder saying some of the sharpener was made overseas after US shops didn't respond to his requests for quotes; the company's 2025 statement says all products are now machined in the US. Its jobs page said it wasn't hiring in November 2026, and its portable Venture model was sold out.
Our rough estimate: the diamond and ceramic stones, whose origin isn't stated, are about 15–30% of a Generation 4 Pro's value; the machined aluminum frame, arms and clamp make up most of the rest.
Level 4 for its Generation 4 Pro and WE40 guided sharpeners: Wicked Edge says its sharpeners are machined in the US and assembled in Santa Fe and Arizona; it doesn't name its machine shops or say where its diamond stones come from.
Chef'sChoice makes electric, manual, hybrid and commercial knife sharpeners with diamond abrasives, such as the Trizor XV 15XV and the 1520, plus food slicers and other small kitchen appliances. EdgeCraft Corporation launched the brand in Avondale, Pennsylvania in 1985 and has been owned by The Legacy Companies of Fort Lauderdale, Florida since 2016.
Made in: USA (sharpeners engineered and assembled; Chef'sChoice names its Avondale, PA facility, and newer manuals give a Legacy Companies address in Paris, KY).
Chef'sChoice's About page: "Chef'sChoice sharpeners, engineered and assembled at the Avondale, Pennsylvania facility." Its manuals say "Engineered and assembled in the USA," and one newer manual with a Paris, Kentucky address reads "Made in the U.S.A. with U.S. and globally sourced materials." Its product pages and the Trizor XV page say nothing about where the sharpeners are made.
Import records show the company bringing in electric motors and other parts from Taiwan, so the motors in the electric models are likely imported. Where the diamond abrasive wheels are made isn't published.
Production history: made in Avondale from 1985. The Legacy Companies bought EdgeCraft in June 2016 and said it would keep operations in Avondale; in 2018 it opened a plant in Paris, Kentucky, "primarily a distribution facility with some manufacturing," that lists Chef'sChoice among its brands, and the Avondale building was listed for sale in July 2020. No 2023–26 source says where the sharpeners are assembled now.
Our rough estimate: for the electric models, the motor, cord and electrical parts, plus abrasives of unknown origin, are about 35–60% of the value; for the manual models, about 20–50%.
Level 3 for its Trizor XV and Diamond Hone sharpeners: Chef'sChoice says its sharpeners are engineered and assembled in the USA; it uses imported parts such as motors, and it isn't clear whether assembly is still in Avondale or now in Kentucky.
Abrasive sources are rarely named. None of these makers says where its diamond grit or honing stones come from.
Electric sharpeners use imported parts. Chef'sChoice describes its sharpeners as engineered and assembled in the USA, and imports motors and other parts.
Brands mix US and imported lines. DMT still makes its diamond plates in Massachusetts, but says its EdgeSharp sharpeners are fully imported.
Each listing's research notes show what was checked and when, including our rough estimate of how much of the value is imported. Ratings are rechecked as companies answer.
Knife sharpener makers by state
Iowa: Rada Cutlery (Waverly)
Massachusetts: DMT (Marlborough)
Minnesota: Razor Edge Systems (Ely)
New Mexico and Arizona: Wicked Edge (Santa Fe, NM; assembly also in Arizona)
Pennsylvania and Kentucky: Chef'sChoice (Avondale, PA; Paris, KY)
Change log
What's changed since our last update on January 27, 2019?
1 maker was added:Wicked Edge, which machines its guided sharpeners in the US and assembles them in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Arizona.
1 company was removed: The Block Sharpener's website no longer belongs to the sharpener maker.
4 makers from the 2019 list were re-checked, including where each has made its sharpeners over the years. DMT has been owned by Acme United since 2016 and now also sells imported sharpeners; Chef'sChoice has been owned by The Legacy Companies since 2016, which also runs a plant in Paris, Kentucky.
Every maker now has a Made in USA level from 0 to 5, with the sources and research notes behind it. See how the levels work.
Listings checked by Dave Hurley.
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A company may be based in the USA while making some products elsewhere. Check the manufacturer's own site for where a specific product is made.
