Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I just received this TrueSharp Power Rotary Blade Sharpener and have several, dull blades that I was anxious to sharpen. I quilt a lot and I was hoping to find a great sharpener as I use so many blades I wanted to cut down my costs. I have tried the hand twist version but the sandpaper wears out too fast and it is not cost effective. This TrueSharp with 2/3's of the people giving it a 4-star or better rating is for me. I went through the instructions and worked on a blade, flipping the blade over 8 times, 30 seconds each, oiling between flips, firmly holding down the lid and --- YIKES!!!! --- the blade was duller than what I started with. Dang. Not another junk sharpener! I read through the instructions again and read several of the 4 & 5 star reviews. What was I missing? I noticed 2 things about those who gave it 5 stars. First, they all really, really oiled the 2 stones before they started. I ended up putting 8 drops of oil on each stone and watching it suck up in the stone. On the 8th time (remember - 8 drops on EACH stone), I noticed that the oil absorbed more slowly and then I knew it was ready. Secondly, many mentioned that the machine was LOUD when it was working. If you hold the lid down too firmly, the sound diminishes so holding the lid down too much will weaken the sharpening process. Thus, don't hold it down too much. Hold it down to where the machine screams. (No other way to describe the sound.) Doing both of these things gave me the great result. My blades are sharpened beautifully. It is too bad that the manufacturer doesn't have a locking place to put the lid while sharpening. You actually have to hold it down by sound. It must be loud, loud, loud. I hope this helps others who purchased this item and gave it 1 or 2 stars and those who are thinking of purchasing this sharpener. I is all about oiling and holding down the lid at the right spot. Everything else works per instructions. I am anxious to see how many times I can sharpen a blade, one reviewer said 16 times, and how long the stones will last. I am glad this worked.