Good knife sharpener

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Xander

Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
8
I just purchased my second nice knife and I would like to be able to sharpen it properly, since I don't think the handheld Smiths 2 stage 6 dollar one is going to work now.

So I've been looking at the Lansky, and the Spyderco knife sharpeners.

What would you guys recommend? Anyone used both?
 
I've used both the Lansky set and the Spyderco Sharpmaker. I prefer the latter in most cases. The Lansky works well for reprofiling the edge, or setting a brand new angle. The sharpmaker rocks for everything else. Get the Diamond rods and you can reprofile with it just as well as the Lansky
 
There's a bit of a learning curve involved with sharpening knives, as you'll see. :)

So whichever sharpener you get, I suggest that you practice first on a knife you don't care much about - like an old kitchen knife.
 
Xander said:
I just purchased my second nice knife and I would like to be able to sharpen it properly, since I don't think the handheld Smiths 2 stage 6 dollar one is going to work now.

So I've been looking at the Lansky, and the Spyderco knife sharpeners.

What would you guys recommend? Anyone used both?
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If you are talking about the Lansky System, with the clamp for setting the angle and different grit stones (or diamond stones), I would strongly recommend you to evaluate the Gatco instead for several reasons:
- Stones are wider
- the guides are inserted in the stone mounts and you slide them out; you don't need to screw them in and out.
- The clamp has more angles than the Lansky (6 vs 4)

I own the Gatco and is really very good. You have several models with more and less stones, same as Lansky (3, 5, serrated, etc.)

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Good luck
 
Get a mouse pad, some 800 up to 2000 grit sand paper from the auto shop, and a thick piece of leather with some stropping compound.
 
I have the smith Tristone, and love it! The only thing is that the supposed "angle guide" is a cheap piece of yellow plastic set for a 25 or 30 degree angle.(Don't remember) You have to keep the angle yourself. Otherwise you will not get a proper edge, but I enjoy it.
 
I have used the Gatco , Lansky and Smith's clamp systems and I also have the Edgepro Apex and I prefer the Smith's clamping system w/ diamond stones. The Smith's clamp has fewer angle selections but I shapen all of my EDC knives to 40 deg so it works for me. The quality of the stones and clamp are superior to the other systems imho.

I love my Sharpmaker for frequent touch-ups but for reprofiling I use a clamp system very easy to get perfectly symmetrical edge.
 
alaskanativeson said:
I've had really good success with the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker system.
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Agreed. I've used everything out there over the last 30 years and for simplicity and ease of use it's just tough to beat the Sharpmaker. It even comes with an instructional DVD that makes it almost idiot proof. (which is great for idiots like me :D)
 
Use some kind of guided system to set your edge and bevel angles. I use a DMT Aligner clamp on a DMT XC stone. I then follow it up with the DMT Fine stone. After that, I flip over my Sharpmaker, put the white stones on and get the bevels really fine. (I've found that the Sharpmaker + rods when flipped over without the cap back on is the same exact height as the DMT stones).

Then after all that, I take the white Sharpmaker rods, put one on the DMT stone mount (the plastic holder thing for the DMT stone), and then put on a microbevel. This is all using the DMT Aligner clamp, the same angle setting each step of the way (the height is lower when putting the white rod on the DMT mount, so the angle is steeper, and you get a microbevel).

With this process, I can split dangling hair. I love it!
 
Skip the contraptions and learn to freehand with a stone. Then realize the superiority of convex bevels and move to the sandpaper and strop. :)
 
Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker system

then the mouse pad and sandpaper set up
 
I am also partial to the GATCO.

I love the 11° setting for my kitchen cutlery.

I added the extra fine and ultimate finishing hones. They refine and polish quite nicely. They are also great for maintenance.
 
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