On Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 9:57:14 PM UTC-5, Ignoramus28209 wrote:
I own several can openers, of manual style with a star wheel,
including "USA made" and such.

They all work poorly and the wheel does not want to cut, and the star
wheel does not provide traction.

Well, buy from a high-end kitchen and appliance retailer, like Williams Sonoma. Tell this problem to the store's buyer too, to make sure it doesn't happen again.