Additional Ceramic Rods for Lansky Turn Box?

[Tempestshade]

Hello everyone!

First post here

I recently recieved a Lansky 4-Rod Turn Box kit as a gift and I must say I am in love with it. For my needs it is absolutely perfect. My only complaint is that I have one knife I received from a friend that is pretty banged up, and with 600 being the lowest grit it will take awhile. I would really like to touch it up with my new system and was wondering if there is a place out there to buy lower grit stones to help with the process? At the same time are higher grit stones available elsewhere? I believe it comes with a 600 grit and a 1000 grit which work perfectly for my utility and edc knives, however, I would really like to bring my kitchen knives even higher. Would really like perhaps 150-300 and 2000 grit Rods.

I would really like to stick with this system at the moment. I do free hand sharpen but would like to expand my range of sharpening gear and knowledge so I would really like to stick with the Lansky for this particular task/post. I do know that I will get much better results free-handing over time, or perhaps with another system.

Cheers,
David

 

[r8shell]

Lansky also sells a diamond rod Turn Box (just one diamond grit- coarse, I guess). As far as I know, those are the only other rods available. I have used those to set a bevel before moving on to the ceramic. It can save you a lot of time.

Oh, and welcome to the forum

 

[Tempestshade]

Thanks for the reply r8shell!

As I understand it those diamond rods are also 600 grit. I could be very wrong though. I have heard that it is perhaps possible to find 'aftermarket' rods that are not specifically built for the Turn Box but still fit. Has anyone been able to have any luck finding these?

Cheers,
David

 

[Shaggy DA]

I don't know about additional Lansky rods but I just received the Spyderco catalogs yesterday and they are offering new grits to their Sharpmaker. Of course you have to buy these new rods at an additional price but it looks pretty good to me. They're offering the coarse (which is a boron carbide stone which is surpassed in hardness only by diamond) for reshaping as well as a medium grit. The Sharpmaker comes factory with the fine and extra fine rods. Combine these rods with a strop and you're guaranteed to have anything with a blade to a hair whittling perfection.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Take a look at the 'CongressTools' website. They have a line of 'MoldMaster' hones in silicon carbide, in an arrangement of sizes/profiles. Round rods in 5/32", 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" diameter, in grits ranging from 80 up to 600. The rods are up to 6" in length. I've never tried them, and sometimes reviews of quality are mixed. BUT, I think most of the commentary I've seen for them has been favorable, and I don't recall seeing anything suggesting they won't get the job done.

BTW, they also have a 'Ruby' line of pink aluminum oxide hones in similar profiles & sizes, in grits from 80 up to 320.

(None of the above are very expensive, either...)


David

 

[G. Scott H.]

I have the diamond turn box. The diamond rods feel sorta "medium-fine" to me, but they cut a lot more aggressively than the ceramic ones. They will reprofile softer/lower carbide steels with a bit of work. Just be sure to go light on the pressure (one of the keys to ALL knife sharpening) so you don't start tearing the diamonds off the rods. Also, if you use the diamond rods for touch ups without going to the ceramic ones afterwards, they leave a helluva toothy edge that's pretty nice for certain tasks. :thumbup: I recently picked up one of Lansky's new Master's Edge rod systems. It comes with longer rods, but the ones from the turn boxes also fit the holes. It's a nice rig. It gives you a pair of 17* slots in addition to the usual 20* and 25* ones, and the angles of the slots are much more accurate and consistent than the wooden turn boxes. I highly recommend it.

http://www.lansky.com/index.php/products/masters-edge/

Street price is about $20 less than msrp (mine was $39.99 with free ship). A great value, imho.

Edit: Also, welcome aboard! :thumbup: