just bought a Lansky sharpening system

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bmw4life1

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May 9, 2009
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ok guys i just bought a Lanksy Sharpening System and im not very happy with it. i dont know if im doing something wrong but it isnt getting my knives as sharp as i thought they'd get. i was hoping they'd be hair shaving sharp like my rat cutlery rc-5. can anyone give me any suggestions on how to accomplish this or suggest a better sharpening system. i do like how easy it is to use tho. so like said id really like some help here before i start pulling my hair out!

thank you

dylan
 
How many stones does your set have? You may want to invest in an exrta-course and extra-fine/pollishing stone.

Also, if your not getting good results I'd say most likely your not staying with the course stone long enough to make the edge angles meet. -Make sure you are forming a burr before progressing to the finer stones.
 
bmw4life1 said:
ok guys i just bought a Lanksy Sharpening System and im not very happy with it. i dont know if im doing something wrong but it isnt getting my knives as sharp as i thought they'd get. i was hoping they'd be hair shaving sharp like my rat cutlery rc-5. can anyone give me any suggestions on how to accomplish this or suggest a better sharpening system. i do like how easy it is to use tho. so like said id really like some help here before i start pulling my hair out!

thank you

dylan
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I have the three stone set and I got hair shaving sharp on the 4 knives I have used with it so far. make sure you are getting to the edge of the blade, try using magic marker on the edge to check.

MG
 
ditto what the others said.

I have used my Lansky sharpener for close to 10 years and have brought all my blades to hair-popping sharpness -BUT- it took me a long time since I had to heavily reprofile the edges first by removing the excess steel 'shoulders' first.
 
I used one for about 10 years off and on and never could get anything really, really sharp. I picked up a Sharpmaker last year and it works great everytime. Some people have good luck with the Lansky though.
 
I have a std as well as a diamond lansky, I can get any knife I own stupid sharp with one or the other or both, depending on the steel. reprofiling is a big deal, takes a while the first time, after that make sure you get a burr with each stone on both sides. I always strop with red rouge, if I take some extra time, I can tree-top arm hair.
 
i have the 5 stone set and it is possible i didnt use the course stone long enough. and i did put marker on the edge of the knife and it did most of it. but there was hits on some of the marker on the fine part of the edge. also it didnt work well for sharpening my crkt m16.

thanks for the feed back tho
dylan
 
I didn't have great results with one but I do believe I wasn't taking my time that'll do it. Truthfully these sharpening systems are great but I think you should buy a regular old sharpening stone and learn to free hand it (use a matchbook as an angle helper untill you get good at it.) Its a skill that isn't easy to learn but you can do it with practice, now don't go and ruin your good knives Buy a few cheap 10 dollar knives, use em good and get them dull and learn on them untill you can have a really dull edge and can get it shaving sharp.
 
Keep your stones clean. The stones are small and they load up quick. Try some Bar Keeper's Friend to clean the stones. They cut much more productively when there is no metal on the stones. You may want to set a micro bevel once you have run through all of your stones on your primary bevel, and you produced a burr on both sides prior to moving down to finer grit stone. This is how I was able to get really sharp with my Lansky stones. The sharpie marker indicator is good, but with my eyes, I use a magnifying glass as well, sometimes there is a really thin line of ink left, when you think all the ink is gone. Lansky will produce sharp knives. One last thought, make sure your guide rods are all attached at the same place, otherwise, your angles are not the same from stone to stone.
Good luck,
 
Hope this aint a thread hijack, but if I have a lansky diamond set I don't sharpen in a pushing motion I sharpen in a pulling am I correct?
 
The worst sharpening experiences I can remember have been with the Lansky sharpener. Some get excellent results with the Lansky, I wasn't one of them.

As others have said, you may need to reprofile your edge first with a course stone. I highly recommend you use the marker trick. Make sure your removing the metal you want to remove.

Bill
 
you always want to sharpen against the blade. also, when setting up the guide rods, set the stones on a flat surface and put the guide rod in the stones. make sure the stones and the entire guide rod are flat on whatever surface you have them on. this way you get as close as possible to the exact same angle every time. ive always gotten better results with my lansky by moving the clamp to different sections of the blade. if you use to wide of swipes with the stones, it will make your edge inconsistent.

+1 on making sure you create a burr before moving to a finer stone, keeping stones clean with a good oil (such as the oil the kit comes with), and getting the ultra fine and/or polishing stones.
 
Death Cattle said:
you always want to sharpen against the blade. also, when setting up the guide rods, set the stones on a flat surface and put the guide rod in the stones. make sure the stones and the entire guide rod are flat on whatever surface you have them on. this way you get as close as possible to the exact same angle every time. ive always gotten better results with my lansky by moving the clamp to different sections of the blade. if you use to wide of swipes with the stones, it will make your edge inconsistent.

+1 on making sure you create a burr before moving to a finer stone, keeping stones clean with a good oil (such as the oil the kit comes with), and getting the ultra fine and/or polishing stones.
Click to expand...


Great tips Death Cattle. I would also recommend getting the Lansky Universal Mount for the clamp if you don't already have it. I know my Lansky set did NOT come with one. I purchased it separately ($10 I think).
 
You HAVE to raise a burr so you get a new edge.

Swipe one side over and over on the coarsest you have raising a burr and do NOT change sides of the blade until you have raised a burr over the whole Edge on that side.

Then flip the blade and repeat until you're done with your coarse stones.

Next go to the fines and sharpen one side once and flip and repeat working your way through
your fines.

At this point once you went through all your stones and spent a good amount of time on your fines it should shave but you can get it sharper and more refined by stropping it.

Once you have finished you can strop using the oposite motion you would if sharpening pulling it accross the leather.
 
chococrazy said:
Hope this aint a thread hijack, but if I have a lansky diamond set I don't sharpen in a pushing motion I sharpen in a pulling am I correct?
Click to expand...

Haven't tried the lansky diamonds, but I find that useing a back and forth, (almost a sawing) motion works great for reprofileing with the course stone. It makes things go alot faster, and I'm not sure why it would be different for a diamond stone.
 
I would also recommend the pedestal mount to free up your other hand. It makes for a more relaxing sharpening session. Sharpening should be enjoyable and relaxing or else you are doing it wrong. I also forgot to mention 2 items:
1. Use masking or blue masking tape on the spine so the spine does not slip out of that clamp. I cut myself catching a sharp knife that popped out. I did not want to bounce nickel silver bolsters off of the garage floor. It cost me some giggles from the wife, and a spoonful of blood, but it was worth it.
2. Exchange those flat style thumbscrews that set the rod to the stone for some hex style screws. You can still thumb screw them in and you add about .5" to your sharpening stroke, utilizing more of the stone surface. It will cost less than a Starbucks house coffee. Bring a stone to the hardware store, and they can match threads for you.

Lansky Pedestal (approx $7), tape ($3) and screws (less than $2 or you are being screwed), and do not forget to keep it fun. Life is short, fun hard.
 
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