Help choosing a sharpening system

R

Rob01

Joined
Jan 29, 2000
Messages
39
I've been collecting knives for years but have never gotten into sharpening them myself. I've been loking at purchasing a sharpening system and would like your help. The owner of a local knife shop said when I do get a sharpener only get a diamond system because they are better, what do you all think about this advice? I've been looking at Gatco and Lansky systems. The Gatco sharpens angles 11, 15, 19, 22, and 25 degrees and the Lansky angles are 17, 20, 25, and 30 degrees. Which one would be more useful for sharpening folders and some combat knives some with chisel grinds. Any help will be appreciated.
 
Welcome to the forums!

Sharpmaker, model 204, then make yourself a strop and your set. I've tried a lot of other systems, have all kinds of sharpening stones that I do use if I need to put a primary bevel back on, but the Sharpmaker really does the trick and the newer one is well made and worth the money.

I sharpen just about everyones knives at work and if they need just a tune up the Sharpmaker is a quick fix, and this newer version has two angles to cover most anyones needs.

Hope that helps, plus you can do a search on the forums for sharpeners and read all night long.
biggrin.gif

G2

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"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...


G2 LeatherWorks
 
I'll second the welcome, Robo1. If you want more info than you really wanted, you've come to the right place. I've had some experience with Lansky clamp systems, and personally avoid them like the plague. I can't speak for Gatco though, its possible their QC is better, in which case it would be acceptable. Not great, but acceptable. I will say that the Spyderco 204 is an excellent choice though. I had a 203, and the 204 operates on the same principle. Its very simple to use, and it works. It is really only effective if you have a knife with an established edge. Its useless for grinding. So if you have a badly degraded edge, its not what you need. Its great once a bevel has been established though.

Now, as to what you heard about holding out for a diamond system. I only have limited experience with diamond stones. I have an Eze-lap pocket stone, and really I haven't managed to do much with it. I prefer Arkansas (oilstones) stones myself. I've heard good things about DMT stones though, you may want to check them out, the Bladeforums store has them.

Now, if you want my reccomendation for the top of the line, spare no expense manual system, I would say Edge-Pro. I have an Apex system that I bought after Christmas, and its met nearly all of my expectations. Ben Dale, the owner, is a good guy to do business with as well. He's very good about service after the sale. That's good, because it is not a simple system. The concept is simple, but it takes a while to get the hang of it. The URL is http://www.gorge.net/business/edgepro/ if you'd like to look at it.

One other slightly less expensive system that I've heard good things about is the Skarb. There is a review on this forum at http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/001354.html and http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/001365.html . Hope this helps.

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Just because I talk to myself does not make me crazy. Now, when I listen to myself, that makes me crazy.
 
Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but free hand is the best way to go in my opinion for several reasons.
First its a ton cheaper, you can go get a tri hone for about 30 bucks and have a great starter set of stones. It'll have good bench sized stones you can use in fine ,medium and coarse all in a great holder, and oil is included.Check them out at www.woodcraft.com
Second its alot more versatile. I carve and do woodworking so it wouldn't make much sense for me to spend 100 bucks on a clamping system that won't fit over half of the things I need to sharpen. Free hand I can sharpen anything from straight knives to bent gouges.
Third its faster. Theres no fancy setup just put the stone on the bench, dump some oil on and go at it. And you can make longer passes on the stone each time. With good 6" or 8" bench stones you can go the full length of the stone each pass which is probably the equivalent of 2 or 3 passes on the small stones that fit the clamping systems.
If you get regula stones and go free hand, I suggest Arkansas stones. Thy're harder and easier to maintain than the japanese water stones, and you simply oil them for each use where as waterstones must be kept in water. for a really fine grit stone(above hard arkansas, which does put a pretty good edge on)I would either getr a surgical black arkansas or a fine white ceramic. Both are a little more pricey than the others but worth it. The surgical black arkansas stone will work just like a normal oil stone. The ceramic is used dry, lasts forever, and you simply scrub it when it gets clogged with metal and doesn't cut like its supposed to.
i would stay away from diamond stone unlesss for a very coarse stone to remove alot of material. They just don't leave a very fine edge if you ask me.
Sorry this is so long, hope it helps.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
Using the clamps has started to drive me crazy. Now I just take the hones, put the clamping crap in the case and just go freehand with the hones. I guess I spent about 15 more dollars than I needed to because of the stupid clamp, but I didn't know they were so stupid until I tried them. Freehand is certainly the way to go.

---Chang the Asian Knife Sharpening Apparatus
 
I have both the Lansky and the Gatco systems: they both work sort of OK on most blades. But not on all blades.

The best bet is to buy all the BOOKS on knife and tool sharpening you can find. Spending time reading about sharpening helped me more than any other tool I own. Since then I sharpen all knives that have a passable angle freehand. Otherwise I use a Tormek water wheel system to put an edge on the knife and then finish by hand.

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Totally new website!
www.wilkins-knives.com
 
Check out Razor's Edge kits. I have their Pro kit and I love it!! I have my 203 for serrations, but I love the Razor's Edge stuff for straight edges. Oh, the Spydie stuff is great for recurved blades too (like Kukris). Ditto on the idea of reading everything you can.
 
Hey Rob01!

Forget what you've read or heard about the gatco angles. They are definetly not 11, 15, 19...degrees!

Even the 11° angle is bigger than the 17° angle on the lansky system.

I have both systems and measured the angles on both systems. Lansky seems to be right with their angles, but the gatco 11° angle is slightly more than 20° in fact.(of course the angle gets smaller on the edge of a clamped knife, but it will never be 11° unless the blade is 6 inches wide)

I was really really disappointed by the gatco system and i prefer the lansky much more.

Although the lansky system seems to be not really beloved on the forum, i love it. You can sharpen your blade with 2 or 3 angles which comes close to a convex-sharpened blade.

Manuel
 
Rob01,

I have the Lansky Diamond, the Gatco Diamond, an 8-inch grinder with paper wheels, and a Sharpmaker 204. Of all of these, I find the Sharpmaker to be the simplest and most effective way to sharpen just about anything that takes an edge.

I've been looking for the scary sharp edges on my knives and hadn't had much luck until I got the Spyderco.

Also, it will be difficult to sharpen your new Strider with the clamp type systems as the finer angles will tend to run the hone over the thickest part of the blade.

Plus, the 204 is the cheapest system I've purchased. The less money you spend on a sharpener, the more money you can spend on knives.
smile.gif


Brian_T
brianthornburg@home.com
 
Rob01,

There are many good systems for sharpening blades and I have used them all. I started out with just stones and it worked good most of the time.
Diamond stones take off too much metal in my opinion, unless you get the very, very, fine ones. I use to change the blade profile for guys who wanted a different type blade with a diamond stone.
I think that the best of them all is the Edge Pro because it puts the exact angle on the blade and does so quickly. Very precise....only drawback is it's price!
 
Rob, a Spyderco 204 or an Edge Pro would be great choices. I own both and think they're great.

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"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n"
John Milton
There are only two types of people; those who understand this, and those who think they do.
 
The Spyderco Sharpmaker is by far the easiest way to go. I have the older Spyderco Sharpmaker for several years now and it always gives me a great edge in a minimal amount of time.
 
Gotta go with Matt Shade...

In order:

1) medium Arkansas
2) fine Arkansas
3) steel
4) strop

I use a counter-clockwise circular patern on the medium stone if the edge is damaged. If not, the steel alone may do it for you. The strop will give you a polished push edge, not much tooth but it'll sure shave you. With the above four, though, you can put any tooth you want, change the angles and repolish with a little effort. Only freehand gives you that flexibility. Buy a crappy knife and experiment.

For serrations:

Gatco (sp?) 1/8" fine ceramic rod at VERY low speed in the Wizard/Dremel, then my home-made rounded strop (dowel covered with leather and jeweller's rouge). This takes more practice, but gets those teeth RAZOR sharp.

Cheers
 
Rob01:

One thing that you'll find confusing is that everyone seems to love their particular system. That's because they all seem to work well, although some take a bit more skill than others. Still, the various systems do have advantages and disadvantages versus each other.

For a brand spanking new beginner, I suggest first reading and digesting the Sharpening FAQ, which I think is still at: http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqs.html
That will give you an idea of what you're trying to accomplish.

Next, I think the best system for a brand new beginner who wants to see good results quickly is the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204 (NOT 203). It is easier to use from the get-go than even the really expensive systems like the Apex and Skarb, and there's no clamping fuss as with the Razor Edge or Lansky/Gatco systems. It comes with its own directions, though I suggest you follow the directions in the Sharpening FAQ instead.

The Sharpmaker has a number of great advantages:

- Easiest system for a beginner to get the hang of
- Quick and easy to set up
- Quick and easy to do touch-ups
- Will do knives of any size or shape
- Great for recurves
- Works on serrated blades
- Can be coupled with a big diamond hone for super fast reprofiling.

You might want to read my article "How to Make the Sharpmaker Perform" found at: www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/004609.html and try the technique there (you'll want to buy DMT x-coarse hone).

After you get the hang of things in a year or so, you might decide you've developed your skills to the point that you want to try other sharpening angles, and then you can start thinking about a Skarb or Apex. Or going freehand.

Joe
jat@cup.hp.com

 
The Lansky does not really seem to be popular around here, but I love mine. They are not the carefree, no-hassle end to all sharpening that they are advertised as being though. I can give you 5 pointers that may help you get better performance out of your kit.
1) Initial setup takes sometime as you must make sure that all rods are perpendicular to the stone's surface in order to get great results.
2) Ensure your clamping location for each knife remains the same everytime you sharpen it (saves removing excess metal)
3) Sharpen as soon as you can detect a loss of sharpness
4) I have found that using the extra fine stone in the opposite direction will remove the wire edge so easily formed on ATS-34
5) always strop on leather with white rouge for that scary sharp edge

I also have ordered a Sharpmaker as these are great for touch ups.


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It's only a mistake if you fail to learn from it!
 
I have been using a Sharpmaker 203 for about 6 months and it is great. Previously, I used a Razors Edge system, also a good system, and a Lansky system, similar to the Gatco unit. All these were ok, but I think the Sharpmaker is the best.

[This message has been edited by Willie Boy (edited 02-18-2000).]
 
I have and would vote for a spyderco sharpmaker 204. If you want blades you can comfortably remove excess shaving cream (Or soap) from your face with, buy a strop as well, leather/canvass, and put the white stuff (chalk) on the canvass side and the yellow stuff (no grit, just lube) on the leather. Go sharpener, canvass, leather. Don't use the leather with the yello unless you really do plan on shaving, elsewise the canvass & white will do just as good a job, and leave a better cutting edge with more bite.

Stryver
 
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