I have a lansky sharpening system with five stones and I'm still getting the hang of it. I recently noticed that the stones won't line up on some blades no matter what angle is selected. Does anyone know how to work around this issue without getting a different system?
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Lansky Help
- Thread starter Locust
- Start date
Fred Sanford
Gold Member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2006
- Messages
- 3,132
Locust,
It depends what 5 stones you have. You may have a "coarse" and an "extra coarse" or you may have only one "coarse".
Check out the tutorial below. When I was new to this it helped me a TON. I have a Lansky and I always use a Diamond DMT (Coarse) stone to lower the bevel angle on new knives first (if they need it) and then I use a Lansky or just my Spyderco Profile Stones (freehand).
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=430124
Merry Christmas!
It depends what 5 stones you have. You may have a "coarse" and an "extra coarse" or you may have only one "coarse".
Check out the tutorial below. When I was new to this it helped me a TON. I have a Lansky and I always use a Diamond DMT (Coarse) stone to lower the bevel angle on new knives first (if they need it) and then I use a Lansky or just my Spyderco Profile Stones (freehand).
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=430124
Merry Christmas!
It's very easy with the Lansky system, but not always fast, just take your time with it.
If you need to change the profile of the edge, start with the course, see how well this is removing material. If it's not really doing the business, go to the extra course, then work your way through the grades. Each finer stone needs to remove the scratches of the previous one, and you want to remove the minimum material necessary, sometimes you wont need to start with extra course.
Just make especially sure that the guide rods are parallel and in line with each stone, use a flat surface and don't be afraid to tweak the guide rod by bending it slightly as required.
Once you have re profiled the edge, it will be much easier and quicker next time as the edge will correspond to the angle on the lansky and you can start with a medium of even the fine stone as you wont need to remove very much material.
If you need to change the profile of the edge, start with the course, see how well this is removing material. If it's not really doing the business, go to the extra course, then work your way through the grades. Each finer stone needs to remove the scratches of the previous one, and you want to remove the minimum material necessary, sometimes you wont need to start with extra course.
Just make especially sure that the guide rods are parallel and in line with each stone, use a flat surface and don't be afraid to tweak the guide rod by bending it slightly as required.
Once you have re profiled the edge, it will be much easier and quicker next time as the edge will correspond to the angle on the lansky and you can start with a medium of even the fine stone as you wont need to remove very much material.
You can alter the angles on the lansky slightly, but not by anything meaningful. There is a bit of play in the guide holes, meaning you can either press the guide rod to the top of the hole, or to the bottom of the hole, this allows a slight change of angle. Another way is to alter how close you position the clamp to the spine of the blade, and depending on the distance between the guides and the edge your angle will obviously change a bit.
If you think the lansky might be close to the factory angle, get a black waterproof felt tip marker and run this along the knife edge, then use a medium stone and see where it removes the ink, this allows you to see where you are taking off material. Ideally you are trying to take off the ink cleanly with each pass, as this shows the angle of the stone equals the angle of the knife edge.
If you think the lansky might be close to the factory angle, get a black waterproof felt tip marker and run this along the knife edge, then use a medium stone and see where it removes the ink, this allows you to see where you are taking off material. Ideally you are trying to take off the ink cleanly with each pass, as this shows the angle of the stone equals the angle of the knife edge.
cj65
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2008
- Messages
- 36,474
You will spend the most time with the coarse stone to get the bevel to the degree of choice. Pay attention with this first stone, use the ink, and a magnifying glass if necessary. Once you have achieved the selected lansky bevel (I like the 20 degree for my slipjoints) with the coarse stone, the other 4 stones go much faster. Learn what the burr is. Do not learn the lansky on a really good knife, sharpen up a beater first. I put a real shallow bevel near the shank on my Case Stockman that still breaks my heart when I look at it. I had to bend my rods also, and my first time, I did not make the rod parallel to the stone, which is also important. Keep the stones clean of metal deposits by dish soap and scrub brush after each use. I choose not to use honing oil, but others may disagree. Also, I have learned to use the ultra fine white stone at 30 degrees for a very light rub to finish up to form a slight micro bevel at the finish, and then my edges enter into scary sharp territory.
CJ
CJ