Edlund 12100 Old Reliable #2 Manual Can Opener with Plated Steel Base

After decades of in-hand can openers that skipped as they cut, refused to cut, would not open all cans or could not puncture the lid, I decide to go big. This is for a home kitchen serving two of us. What I didn't know was what is the smallest diameter that it could open. Answer: 2-1/2"! the smallest size I use. Couldn't be happier. Sure, it seems like using an elephant to stomp a gnat, but worth it, all the way up to #10 cans (the largest I use). Highly recommended if you have a place for it. Can opening time is literally divided in half or more.

I love it!!!! should have bought this one to begin with, instead I went with a cheaper one, and when the blade broke I found out that finding a replacement blade was impossible. So I bought this one, It is top quality, and you CAN buy replacement parts!

works great on #10 cans. I screwed it down to a heavy butcher block cutting board since I needed it to be movable. I own a small catering company and in the past we used the Hand Crank openers, but thy would break after a few weeks. Finally decided instead of ordering thous by the case at $15 each just bite the bullet and pay $100 for quality.

[Update: after using it more than two years, it's still going strong. We've not had to sharpen or replace the blade. All I've done to maintain it is add a little oil a couple of times a year to keep it turning easy. Wipe it down after you use it (especially if can contents slosh out), and it will stay in great shape for years.]Well, if you're reading this review after browsing to the Edlund #1 Commercial Can Opener (with base), then I'll assume you fall into one of three categories: you're involved in food service somewhere (e.g., restaurant, soup kitchen), you have a large family that uses a lot of institutional sized (10#) cans, or you are wondering if something like this might work for someone with arthritis. I find myself in the latter two categories.This opener brought to an end our practice of buying and wearing out traditional, hand-held can openers. We're a big family and open a lot of institutional sized cans. I have no complaints. This opener can handle them all--even little tuna cans. Since we're not a restaurant, our biggest issue was deciding where to mount the base plate. We opted for a corner of one of our countertops in the area with the least foot traffic. Mounting the base plate required drilling holes through the countertop, then installing machine screws and nuts (provided). If we want the extra counter space (e.g., when hosting), the opener can be removed from the bracked and stored in a drawer or cabinet.Turning the crank sure beats trying to turn those little handles on the hand-held openers we've used all these years. My wife has recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her fingers (sadly so, because she is so young), so this is a real hand-saver for her.

Until I got ambitious and decided to fix the thing, I basically had a $100 paper weight. I did not return it because in my experience, when a product has this many issues, the QC process for the company is what is in question. I would most likely get another one just like it (usually do in my case), and I did not want to go through that much of a hassle, and headache to keep returning items. I am just going to chalk this up as experience, and avoid Edlund products in the future (very expensive, and poorly made).When I opened the box, and took out the opener, the handle would barely turn, indicating something was very wrong. Tolerances on this thing are very poor, to say the least. After I finally got the thing to turn a couple of times, I had a nice little pile of black power and metal shavings, indicating there was metal to metal contact, and way too tight of a fit. I disassembled the unit, and found the metal to metal contact points pretty quickly. The spring holds the gear up against the housing, and was so tight that the gear was rubbing into the housing. I made some adjustments, and now it turns like it is supposed to, without the metal shavings. This thing is a pain to disassemble, with no instructions on how to do so. Once i got it apart, and made the adjustments, I had to put it back together. Unless you have some special tools to compress the spring back down, getting the handle pin back in is almost impossible. I also had to put an edge on the cutting blade. The blade should have had an edge machined into both sides, but it was squared off metal, indicating that this part of the machining process had been missed.I finally got it back together, and now have a decent (not great) $100 can opener.

Like most Americans, we are tired of buying products that don't work or a product that doesn't last! My wife and I have purchased numerous electric and held-hand can openers, most once wearing a proud American name and heritage, but these days, they are stamped-out in China;compared to the older products openers for the most part are pure grade 'A' junk.... I wanted to 'invest in a great product'.... My wife and I cook a lot for our church meals, guy's monthly meetings and the lady's also have their monthly get together.... Sometimes, we easily open a dozen cans at a time... This Edlund,(USA Made),does the job very quickly... The way I figure why spend $40.00 for junk and get a year perhaps two from the Chinese openers? Yes, the Edlund cost about three times that amount but for home use it is there for a life-time. The blade on the Edlund is estimated to last up-to 25,000 cans. And if it does wear out, for about $10.00 you can buy another one and with a simple screwdriver you are back in business. Great Product, Reasonable Price and Fast Shipping... One would make a wonderful gift for a birthday or Christmas for the family that cooks.... Thanks Edlund and Amazon we really like our product....

This is great especially if you are older or a female with small hands. Ever struggle trying to get a can opened ? No more with this baby. Just set the can, bring the opener down on it and turn handle. No fuss at all. Probably the hardest thing with this is finding a good spot to install the bracket. The main opener component can easily be removed and stored in a drawer or washed in the sink.