I used to have a little one from the dollar store. Now I'm considering the crank ones that clamp to the countertop.

Can they be sharpened? I found some on line and emailed questions. The Burpee product support says theirs does not come apart for sharpening. Never having seen one up close and personal, I don't know if that means it's not sharpenable period. Here's the response I got about the NorPro from the CanningPantry online store:

"It does have screws, so while I'm not 100% sure, it does appear that it can be taken apart for sharpening."

Do you know? Maybe they never need sharpening?

I can't find a $1 anymore or I would never have gone to all this trouble. It was a 1-inch open square with some blades in the middle. The small ones online are about $3-5, and then there's shipping. And I suppose slicing 4 beans at a time would be less tedious than 1.

The green beans I have access to in the grocery stores around here are very tough; they really have to be sliced.