I have a Sharpmaker, should I get a Lansky?

D

Dekz

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Oct 26, 2007
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I've been using a Spyderco Sharpmaker for a few years now, but I have a few issues with it.

#1 If a knife is very dull (usually if I'm sharpening one for a friend), it takes absolutely forever to make any progress.

#2 If the edge angle on the knife is anything other than the 40 degrees that the Spyderco is set at, I have to adjust my angle, which basically defeats the whole purpose of the system.

#3 I would love to be able to put a mirror edge on some knives, but I don't believe that this is possible with a Sharpmaker (even with the Ultra Fine rods?)

I'm looking at the Lansky 5 stone Deluxe clamp system. Mainly I'm thinking that I would really prefer a "guided" type system. There is a LOT of room for user error with the Sharpmaker.

I realize that issue #2 could probably be solved with a set of diamond Sharpmaker rods, but they cost as much as the entire Lansky system.

Is the 1000 grit stone that this Lansky kit comes with enough to obtain a mirror edge out of the box?
 
The 5-stone Deluxe kit is what I first started with, when I was starting to get serious about sharpening. It'll do OK with most steels, but you might find yourself wanting for at least one diamond hone to supplement it, if you're planning on sharpening some high-wear steels like S30V. An XC, Coarse or perhaps even a medium diamond hone can be more effective for re-bevelling such steels.

The 1000 'UF' stone in the Deluxe kit can get you pretty close to mirror (by naked eye under average lighting), and closer with simpler/low-wear steels (1095, 420HC, 440A all polish very easily). This is dependent on making full effective use of the previous hones, using each to completely replace the coarser scratch pattern from previous grit stages. If done so, the 600 'Fine' should begin to reveal some hazy mirror polish, and the 1000 'Ultra-Fine' will get rid of most/all of the 'haze' and leave a pretty nice mirror itself.


David
 
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I used to have one and i bought the saphire polishing stone. That can pretty much achieve a mirror finish after an extra fine stone
 
I added a DMT Aligner kit with the four stones to supplement my Sharpmaker. I like it better than the Lansky.
 
I have a Lansky diamond set and used it for years. I can get a bit sharper with the wicked edge but not a lot. With these steels now I would say the diamond set, also the sapphire stone (get 2 they wear out faster) and then you can get a leather stropping hone also. Little compound and you can get a scary polished edge. You will be able to regrind a first time edge in 20-30 mins and in another 10 have a mirror edge. I use my wicked edge more for first sharpenings now and touch up weekly on the Lansky.
 
Yeah why not? The lansky is cheap. Even the 5 stone version. I love my SM, but it's not aggressive enough to be your "one n only" sharpener. I have a lansky that I keep in my camper. At home I use my SM until the blade gets really beat up then it's over to my wicked edge to set the bevel again. A guided system along with a SM is a great set up. As far as mirror edge with a lansky, I'd try the sapphire stone others have mentioned. I've heard good things about it
 
For me, it's go big or go home with guided systems. I like the SM for touchups, but if I'm going to use a "real" guided system, I'd rather the edgepro or wicked edge. This comes from my standpoint of having used NEITHER system at all, OR the Lansky! So you can tell I'm an expert and you should listen to me. :P

Just my opinion.

Brian.
 
I don't use guided systems but have had a few over the years. The biggest issue always being stone size, the small stones of pretty much all systems make sharpening slow and can cause over/under grinds due to the narrow width and the misuse of pressure.

With years of use you have developed a sharpening muscle memory that will benefit you in freehand sharpening. Some good benchstones would be a ideal solution giving much greater sharpening speed which in turn will cause less fatigue and better edges.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
It'll do OK with most steels, but you might find yourself wanting for at least one diamond hone to supplement it, if you're planning on sharpening some high-wear steels like S30V. An XC, Coarse or perhaps even a medium diamond hone can be more effective for re-bevelling such steels.
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Yeah that's what I was thinking. With the diamond hone I should have no problem re-bevelling and the cost of the kit & diamond hone would only be a little bit more than the Spyderco diamond rods alone.
 
Only last year or early this year, I assembled a complete set of Lansky sharpeners -- from extra coarse grit to super fine grit plus the serrated sharpeners. The only thing I didn't get is the strop attachment. I discovered several cons:
1) the clamp does loosen up as you're using and it takes monitoring it to tighten.
2) the angle isn't that tightly controlled
3) most importantly, because of the short radius, the angle is not the same along the edge. you will find that the angle gets more acute towards the tip.

I'm with bgentry that if you're going to use a guided system, go big with either the edgepro or wicked edge as they have a much longer radius which will help keeping the angle constant along the knife edge. For myself, as I considered that even the edgepro or wicked edge still have relatively short radii and will still to some degree not have a constant angle along the edge, I went with DMT diamond stones to freehand. Granted that one can argue that freestyle won't guarantee a constant angle either but I reason a large number of people do it well. And to help me until I build up muscle memory, I've bought accessories such as a starrett protractor to help me measure and set bevel angles and a T Bevel square that I will use as a guide to set my hand to the correct angle as I free stroke.
 
Dekz said:
#1 If a knife is very dull (usually if I'm sharpening one for a friend), it takes absolutely forever to make any progress.
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You can always look into cubic boron or diamond rods to reprofile, then refine on the ceramic rods.

Dekz said:
#3 I would love to be able to put a mirror edge on some knives, but I don't believe that this is possible with a Sharpmaker (even with the Ultra Fine rods?)
Click to expand...

This is definitely possible, I did this with a UF rod, no stropping at all:

uzuqbeY.jpg


Dekz said:
Is the 1000 grit stone that this Lansky kit comes with enough to obtain a mirror edge out of the box?
Click to expand...

It will get you very close on most steels.

In all honesty, I would stick with the Sharpmaker if I were you. The Lansky has its drawbacks as well, and the Sharpmaker is much more flexible as far as adjustments go. But that's just me - I had the Lansky at one point but instead moved away from guided systems as I became more confident in my sharpening skills.
 
I have a Sharpmaker for GP.

A chunk of leather to strop.

For heavy beaten edges...DMT Stones.. Blue and Red that I have been free handing with going on 25yrs
 
I used the lansky for awhile when first started. I thought it was great for a short while. Accurate it is not and it doesn't eliminate much human error. I got mediocre results after I had it for awhile.
It has some fundamental flaws. The new lansky clamp is skelotonized pot metal not solid aluminum like the older one. It doesn't hold the knife well at all and the older solid clamp is impossible to find. My clamp broke when it was still loose enough for the blade to wiggle freely. Secondly the angles are preset instead of being infinitely adjustable so every knife has to be completely reprofiled untill the angle matches. This leads to the last problem which is that the stones aren't uniform thickness. And when you lap them when they get a concave it really throws the thicknesses off. This wouldn't be a problem but because you use the predetermined slot for the guide rod, each stone will sharpen at a slightly different angle. This can make it nearly impossible to fully remove the previous scratch pattern and get that mirror edge.

I went with a less known system called the kme and have not needed anything else since. It solved every problem I had with the lansky and I have know complaints about it. The angle is infinitely adjustable so you can match the existing bevel or set any angle from 12 to 30 degrees depending on blade width, with a simple mod you can account for varying stone thickness, the clamp is solid, and its much less expensive then the edge pro or wicked edge. Here's a link. http://www.kmesharp.com/kmeknshsy.html
 
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