I use a Benriner mandolin, which I bought at a restaurant supply store, but Amazon has them now (see link below). I can adjust it to whatever thickness I want using a screw on the bottom that controls the height of the feeder tray. It also make julienne strips very quickly and easily, and I use them mostly on carrots, particularly for Vietnamese dipping sauce.

I would avoid the Borner V-1001 V-Slicer Plus, as it only has two (or maybe three) positions for thickness and will not make very thin slices. Also, I do not like the "V" shape - food gets stuck in it, and the single angle seems to work better.

You will always waste some food with any slicer, as the finger guard has to stay above the cutting blade.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Benriner Mandolin

Thanks! How easy is it to slice vegetables crosswise instead of lengthwise? It looks like (from watching the video) that it's a lot easier to slice things when you go lengthwise (say, for example, potatoes for French fries rather than potatoes for chips). How hard is it to hold the food with the holder while pushing?

This looks like just what I need if I'm able to use it to slice crosswise.

I actually do not use the pusher until the food is somewhat smaller, but I'm very careful with it. For a potato, I would slice it half way before using the pusher. The pushers are never great but they are necessary. You can buy a separate pusher, but I also wear Kevlar gloves, just in case. For some things, such as chilies, the pusher does not work well at all, but it is easy to slice most vegetables lengthwise, although they have to be cut into the correct shape to fit the tray first if they are too large.

Lars

Use the finger guard! Use the finger guard and a glove! This was 3 years ago, at least, and it is still tender if I hit my knuckle on something. P. S. I was being oh-so careful when I did this.

Thank goodness my neighbor was a surgeon!