Toastmaster 6102 Electric Carving Knife

Effective, but unergonomic and fatiguing
Okay, I bought for the price. And it is effective enough. But it is very clumsy and unergonomic, so that after a couple minutes of use it is difficult to handle any longer. The main problems are: Balance of weight, and the switch.

First, the switch: Because it is a cheap push-in button, which must be constantly depressed to keep the knife on, you lose optimum control quickly. The handle is badly placed for this, as your thumb must always be on TOP of the handle and forward toward the front of it, but you can't hold your hand up there because your wrist angle will be completely wrong for cutting. In addition, keeping that button depressed is difficult not only because it does require a constant application of pressure at a different direction from both the grasp and the application of the knife, but because the button sinks deep into the handle, so your thumb is inside the handle as you're trying to hold and control the knife: Quick cramp. Moreover, as you're pushing it in,...

Not bad for the price
This knife was purchased for us as a wedding gift and we've used it for 10 years. Not all the time, mind you, but for special occasions like Thanksgiving. It's always worked well, never jammed, and it just slices through a turkey like it was butter. We've had nothing but good to say about this knife and for the money, well, it's hard to go wrong! But, if you are looking for something to use more consistently, I would definitely recommend a better brand because I honestly don't think this one would hold up well under a lot of use.

tricky switch/short blade
Price was a factor in buying, but I wanted mostly for slicing bread machine bread. The bit at the end of the blades get hung up in my Presto slicing guide as the blades are too short; further, the switch is extremely temperamental and only works if you move your thumb around a lot. I'd return it, if the postage, packaging and trip to post office were worth it + trying to dig up original cash receipt! These people do NOT want return business! (They've been bought by Salton, so they use this brand for junk)

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