I have one and love it. I'm not even sure what brand - it's good quality and I got it at a kitchen supply store. It has a bunch of additional blades with it.

It's a workhorse in the kitchen when you do a lot of dehydrating. It's important to keep slices thin and consistantly the same thickness so they dry in the same amount of time.

You can always wear a cut-resistant glove (aka butcher glove), but I use the "pusher" on the food so that my hands shouldn't be coming in contact with the blade.

I've seen some that come with 40 blades, and that is probably over-kill in most home kitchens. You can still do a lot of chopping in a food processor.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Butcher Gloves

We have the super benriner, which is certainly affordable, and has a variable adjustment setting, which is why we like it. It has 3 or 4 different blades. We found this one as a recommendation from the French Laundy cookbook, as its Thomas Keller's mandoline of choice.

I have the Zyliss. Sturdy, safe, does the job, reasonable cost. Works as well as one I used at a friend's house that cost three times more. And it definitely stores more neatly and safely than hers did.

Now, as full disclosure, I have to admit I don't use it often. It's a case of "out of sight, out of mind." By the time I remember it, I've usually already grabbed a knife and am half-way through the cutting job.

I bought a Kyocera at Sur La Table and ended up at the local ER getting my thumb stitched the very first time I used it. No more mandolins in my kitchen.

In our family, except for one aunt, all the women of my grandmother and mother's generation have died but their Feemsters live on. I have two - #1 that I've used for about 45 years and #2 in reserve in case #1 breaks, which is highly unlikely.

In all those years, I've never had to have it sharpened - not once - and it is able to slice potatoes thin enough to make homemade potato chips or slice tomatoes without a serrated blade. I've never figured out how they could have made a kitchen implement that could be so efficient and indestructible. I just rinse it off to clean it.

So it fits the last 3 out of 4 of your criteria. But I will tell you that mine is so sharp, you could slice your finger off. None of my relatives who use Feemsters have ever had a scratch but we grew up slicing with them and are used to handling slicing with caution. The new ones have non-slip legs and a plastic holder to avoid that scenario but since we're still all using the original ones, I don't know how the new ones compare in sharpness and have not used the holder.

They're available most of the time on ebay but recently have been revived by the Vermont Country Store. At $10, it's worth a try.

Here is a link that might be useful: Feemster slicer

I can only say stay away from the Cuisinart that sells for around $50. Lousy slicing, pieces of the guard actually get cut off and end up in your food. I'm suprised they're still selling it.

i do, i do! it works BEAUTIFULLY, is small, light, cleans up in a snap and costs about $35. i LOVE my v-slicer by borner. please note however, that it does have a downside. the wonderfully sharp stainless steel blades/teeth are housed in plastic and eventually that plastic cracks or breaks. i use this device close to daily or certainly no less than several times a week but i wish they put the blades in fiberglass or something else more duable. but functionally, this is a GREAT device that i honestly love.

i did buy a mafter several years ago. it has stainless steel blades in a fiberglass body. it's heavier, not as easy to adjust or clean but is a more heavy duty model. but i don't use it unless i'm doing a head of cabbage or a ton of potatoes or onions all at once. i really love the v-slicer!