Lansky help.

[wongKI]

Got a Lansky deluxe recently. I was pretty pleased with it, brought a couple of knives to shaving sharpness. The edges aren't perfect, but very workable.

SO I have two questions/problems.

When sharpening my knives, I find the 17 degree setting to be more or less unusable. When I sharpen my CE Delica, I clamp it at the bevel where the saber grind starts, in the middle of the PE section. When I try to sharpen it at the 17 degree setting, the hone doesn't even touch the knife, it sharpens the clamp instead. I sharpened it out at the 20 degree setting, but I'd much rather have the thinner edge.

Secondly, the rods have some wiggle when I insert them into the slots. I sharpen with the rods against the top of the guide slots. Are these angles accurate?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I'm a fan of the Lansky system also.

I guess if I were having this particular problem, I'd re-position the blade in the clamp such that the edge you're working on is moved further away from the clamp, even if that means shifting the clamp towards the rear (tang) of the blade. I have a Spyderco Endura with the Combo Edge blade and, if necessary, that's what I'd do. It's possible, if you can move the edge further away from the clamp, you'd effectively reduce the sharpening angle anyway. You might get away with using the 20 degree slot instead of the 17, and achieve roughly the same finished angle.

If you have to move the clamp further from the edge, and therefore closer to the spine, I've found that it helps to put a piece of masking tape around the spine edge under the clamp. The tape gives the clamp a lot more grip on the blade, if you're worried the clamp might slip on the blade.

As far as the accuracy of the angle settings on the clamp, I've personally never worried about the actual precision of that setting. I've just focused on finding a setting that produces a bevel I like (regardless of the 'number' stamped on the slot). Also, I would'nt worry too much about the 'slop' in the slots. I've just gotten in the habit of positioning my free hand on the back of the clamp so that I can use my thumb/forefinger to keep the rod from 'rattling around' too much in the slot.

Hope this helps. Good luck!!

 

[hlee]

The angle is dependent on the depth of the blade being sharpened, and the distance of the stone from the clamp. Very wide blades will sharpen at more acute angles than narrow blades. If a blade is too narrow (as you have found out) the stone will not hit the edge. The only remedies are; reposition the clamp such that the stone hits the edge of the blade, sharpen at a more obtuse angle, or do not use the clamp system. Because the system sharpens in an arc, the angle that is applied to your edge changes continuously across the sweep of the stone. The blade further from the clamp will be sharpened at a more acute angle than the blade directly in front of the clamp. The angle applied will be consistent so long as the clamp is not moved and the stone guide rod rides on the same part of the guide slot. The angle quoted on the side of the guide is NOT accurate, but it will produce "consistent" angles given the caveat that the sharpening angle changes with where the stone touches the blade with respect to the clamp. This phenomenon is much easier to demonstrate than it is to describe. All that being said, the lansky system should be able to get your knife as sharp as you want it. It is what I reach for when I want mind numbingly simple edge reprofiling and pretty bevels.

 

[Knife Outlet]

I'm pretty sure obsessed nailed it. I don't know about your Lansky. Mine is about 25 years old. It has little rabbets cut in the jaws of the clamp designed to hole the spine of the knife. They clamp holds only the upper 1/8" or so of the spine. You likely have the clamp too far down on the blade.

I should also mention that the 17 degree option is only 17 degrees to the end of the clamp. when you put a blade in it the effective angle is more acute than that - probably 15 degrees or even less depending on the height of the blade. You would want to choose that only for hard steel and applications less severe than "hard use." Most folders do pretty well with 20 degree bevels.

My last piece of advice to newbies with the Lansky is that you need to grind the bevels thoroughly to the selected angle prior to sharpening. Grind them until a light swipe will turn a burr in each direction. Then you are ready to start sharpening.

 

[cj65]

Got a Lansky deluxe recently. I was pretty pleased with it, brought a couple of knives to shaving sharpness. The edges aren't perfect, but very workable.

SO I have two questions/problems.

When sharpening my knives, I find the 17 degree setting to be more or less unusable. When I sharpen my CE Delica, I clamp it at the bevel where the saber grind starts, in the middle of the PE section. When I try to sharpen it at the 17 degree setting, the hone doesn't even touch the knife, it sharpens the clamp instead. I sharpened it out at the 20 degree setting, but I'd much rather have the thinner edge.

Secondly, the rods have some wiggle when I insert them into the slots. I sharpen with the rods against the top of the guide slots. Are these angles accurate?

Invest the $7 or so in the pedestal stand/holder so your other hand is free, and you will not rattle the guides as much either. If you watch where you set the set screw on the rod, you can get more acute of an angle using the 20 slot with the set screw contacting as close to the bend in the guide rod as possible. Just make sure all your stones are set the same. I also, took those thumb screws to the local hardware store, and matched the threads with some thin headed hex screws, and bingo! another half inch of stroke. This helps you use more of the stone. Good luck and have fun.

 

[jimmyh]

I use the lansky setup for most of my sharpening, so I've accumulated a few tricks.

First of all, no, the edge angles listed there are not accurate. The angle is always more acute than they say. The '17' slot gives closer to 14 degrees per side on a typical folding knife. The right way to do it is measure and do your own trig.

There are quite a few ways to tweak the angle. Clamping the blade so that the clamp faces aren't parallel will do it, but this isn't the best way. You can also adjust how far into the hone you push the guide rods, or use the top/bottom surfaces of the slot. You can also hold benchstones to the lansky ones and get a lower angle/wider cutting surface that way. Clamping on the very back of the blade gives lower angles still, but I have had problems with it slipping off. Sharp knives falling are scary

In my efforts to grind at lower angles, I have drilled holes below the 17 slots, and taken the clamp to the grinder to take a bit off the shoulder. Inserting the guide rod as far into the hone as possible allows the guide rods to clear the shoulder more easily while reducing the sharpening angle, but it means you have to use short strokes because the stone itself will hit the shoulder. Since I never finish the final edge at angles this low, I'll just grind one side then re-clamp it so that the thumbscrew doesn't get in the way. I have gotten down to 13 degrees included this way.

If you're doing the ultra low angles that necessitate short strokes, it is easy to pull the hone too far out and bring the back down on the edge . One solution that I haven't yet tried is to put a clamp or tightly wound rubber band on the guide rod to limit the travel.

A good general rule is to change the angle every time you change grits. There is much less metal to be removed this way. For example, I'd grind the secondary bevel at 20 degrees included or so with the coarsest stone you have, then put a barely visible bevel on with the fine stone, and then another 5-10 passes per side with the UF stone. The edge should sever/whittle free hanging hairs by this point. If you go on to polish the edge further with polishing compounds and paper, do very light passes at the final edge angle, then go back down a step and do a few more on each side. The paper will wrap around to hit the edge with very little pressure.

If you have to move the clamp further from the edge, and therefore closer to the spine, I've found that it helps to put a piece of masking tape around the spine edge under the clamp. The tape gives the clamp a lot more grip on the blade, if you're worried the clamp might slip on the blade.

I'll have to try that one. Thanks!