Abstract: An electric knife sharpener characterized by an electric motor having a stator winding producing a magnetic axial bias on the armature and on a grinding wheel axially displaceable bodily with the armature and by a pair of slots adapted to engage a knife against them and angularly intersecting the grinding wheel whereby a properly inserted blade axially displaces the grinding wheel and the motor armature to achieve a substantially constant magnetic axial bias of the grinding wheel against the blade of a knife upon magnetic action of the motor winding on the motor armature.