Recommendation? I now have better steels, I think I need a better sharpening system

G

greyling

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Dec 26, 2006
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Please bear with me, I know a variation of this is probably asked a lot, and I did use the search function.

I have a lansky sharpening system. not the diamond one. The arkansas stones one. It has worked ok for me over the years when most of my steels have been in the aus-8 and 154cm. However I have never been a able to get a super sharp edge on anything. Probably my technique needs work.
BUT I have been getting into harder steels lately. a lot of d2, an elmax blade, some s30v and an m390 blade. I'm not sure my old arkansas stone will work all that well. In addition, I have gotten some full flat grind blades that don't want to clamp into the lansky well.

I don't let my knives get super dull, and I don't use them hard, but I would like to be able to keep them more or less factory sharp.

I have been eyeballing the edgepro apex clones and putting some real edgepro stones in them. or possibly making some stones that fit out or aluminum stock and congress stones. That seems like the most economical way to get a decently sharp blade.

So my 2 questions:
A) if I get an apex clone, what edgepro stones should I get to maintain a good edge? a fine and a superfine diamond? https://www.edgeproinc.com/Sharpening-Stones-c8/ would the water stones be a waste of time on d2 and s30v?
B) would I be better off grabbing some diamond stones for my lansky?
3) any other helpful suggestions

PS: I have 2 small children and a mortgage, a $200 sharpening system is just not on the table.Probably need to limit cost to about $75 or so. Also, I know my personal hand eye coordination and attention span limits, and trust me, "learn to hand sharpen" is not going to be a helpful response.
 
I think the best answer, given the spending limit and your not wanting to explore freehand, would be to upgrade your Lansky with diamond and perhaps SiC hones that will cover the range of grits you're looking for.

A coarse and fine diamond hone will open up quite a few possibilities in concert with the hones already in your arsenal...(assuming you have aluminum oxide in addition to the finer Arkansas stones in the kit).
 
If you learn to freehand you can just get the edge pro stones and sharpen them much cheaper. Or set the edge pro stones so they stand at the angle you want to sharpen your edge at like a sharpmaker. That's a bit of a diy project but can save you some cash.

I can't say I'd recommend the clones but at least using the real edge pro stones will be better. Clamp systems don't do to well with full flat grinds because of the clamp. Someone was saying there are work around but I've not got anything to work.

Even the edge pro likes to use the flat tang portion of the blade to get an idea angle. And it can be difficult to learn and you will have to practice being ambitious. I'd say it's a more advanced kit than a kme.

I would suggest looking at youtube for tutorials before you buy it and see if it's right for you and the knives you have.

You would probably get better results just paying someone else to sharpen your knives as it can get expensive buying sharpening systems and supplies.

For stones id recommend a coarse diamond stone to set your angles then a few SiC stones to refine then a diamond paste/spray strop or two or three depending on how much you want to refine that apex.

But you may want to practice your method with the lansky and your older steel and get good at making edges. It will help alot later.
 
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I agree with you that free hand is not an option. I tried for years to learn free hand and always came up short. With a lot of patience, I could get a so-called utility edge, but it wouldn't even shave arm hair.

Save your money and get a basic Apex kit. You can always add diamonds, Shaptons, etc later on.
 
Second the idea of getting an actual basic Edge Pro Apex and adding stones, plates as you need them.
Used ones come up time to time.
 
you can get very good edges with your lansky by adding the diamond stones
I use a lansky for setting my bevels - I have the XC to XF ceramic stones (80 to 1000) from that deluxe kit. I added the superfine sapphire (2000).
later added the diamond stones C, M, and F and several strops and compounds; and some miscellanious stones I recieved as gifts.

for full flat grind blades, I set the back screw very tall and use the front screw to clamp to match the grind on the blade. I almost always use electrical or painters tape to protect the blade form the clamp.
 
Before I got crazy crazy into sharpening I had a Lansky kit and got very good results from it, especially relative to the cost. Based on your budgetary restrictions, I would recommend adding the diamond stones to the Lansky kit. Get really good with those and then evaluate if it's worth the money to upgrade to an Edge Pro at some future point.
 
This may not be the response you're after, but my suggestion is stop buying knives until you upgrade your kit. Even if that means a $200 kit. Or maybe choose to outsource the sharpening.

Point being, where does the sharpening of your knives fall in priority? One knife might the cost of the kit.

Now, you may not be spending much on knives so this might not be a very good answer but I'm just trying to say that if you can swing a new knife, maybe what you should really do is put it aside for gear for the knives you already own. Once you have a good kit, then the knife world can really open up for you after that as you no longer fret so much over keeping them sharp, you know you can handle it.

Personally, I'd rather have a couple knives I know I can keep sharp, than two dozen knives I can't. Not being a jerk at all. Believe me, I raised two kids so I totally get it!
 
This is coming from a guy who doesn't know how to sharpen so take this with a grain of salt. In fact check out my "I don't know how to sharpen knives" thread.
Anyway, I have a sharp maker and I'm having a heck of a time sharpening dull D2 steel. I feel that if I had Diamond sharpening rods with the sharpmaker I'll be doing okay. I think that if you were to continue using your Lansky system that if you just got some Diamond Stones for it that you'll be doing fine.
 
I guess that I'm the odd man out here, but I was never able to get anything better than a mediocre edge using a Lansky. The Spyderco SM and the Lansky "Crock Sticks" work well for touching up an edge that is already sharp, but aren't very good for a dull knife, IME.

Another alternative is a belt sander, but I'll leave any advice on those up to the folks that use them.
 
A coarse (DMT ultra-coarse, 220 grit) hone and a fine one (DMT red, 600 grit) are my basics -- just bench stones. I use an ancient Buck Honemaster guide from time to time if the bevel needs re-establishing. I found the ultra-coarse is almost essential for S110V unless you want to spend an inordinate amount of time on the 600 grit.
 
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