Are electric knife sharpeners bad for your knives?

It depends on the machine and your expectations. High-trust testing from Consumer Reports and The New York Times rates diamond-abrasive units like the Chef'sChoice 15XV highly for fast, repeatable results, but specialist communities (r/sharpening, r/chefknives) consistently warn that electric pull-through sharpeners remove more metal than hand sharpening and can struggle with knife tips. They are generally considered safe for Western production knives (Wüsthof, Victorinox, Henckels) but a poor choice for thin Japanese or single-bevel blades.