Lansky Kit suggestions

[celtic11]

I bought a Lansky deluxe sharpening kit (not diamond) that should be here Tuesday. I've watched several videos on YouTube but it seems that everyone does it a bit different. Most guys seem to only stroke upwards on the blade while others go up and down. One guy said do a small section of the blade at a time while most work the way from the tang to the tip.

I sharpen some of my knives free-hand but struggle with recurves like my Blurs. I've also recently bought a ZT0566 and 0550 that I'm not quite comfortable enough to try and freehand those.

I'm not necessarily looking for mirror polish or "hair whittling," just a nice even, sharp edge. So basically I'm just wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction as far ad technique. Also I see there are other hones you can purchase such as the sapphire stone and leather strop.. are any of these something I should look at?

I did a search for lansky but it seems maybe the search feature on the app isn't working great.. as it turned up no results. Thanks.

 

[defaultuser]

I can speak only for my own experience. I have very good results using a back-and-forth motion for most of the sharpening session. As I move up the grit ladder, I ease on the pressure up to the point where the stone is just touching the edge, and stoke only upward for the final lick of the stone, just to remove the burr. I flip the blade more often as well. I try to work the edge all the way, maybe insisting more on areas that needs more attention. Hope it helps!

 

[Kai Winters]

I too use a back and forth motion with just enough pressure to make a burr then flip and repeat. I may take 50 strokes per side for four flips depending on the hardness of the steel, how dull the edge is, etc. Once I am using the yellow and sapphire ceramic hones I am putting very little pressure on the hone.
Do not buy the leather hone, it is not worth it. Instead buy or make a strop and learn how to use it. It works far better than the teeny hone.

 

[celtic11]

I too use a back and forth motion with just enough pressure to make a burr then flip and repeat. I may take 50 strokes per side for four flips depending on the hardness of the steel, how dull the edge is, etc. Once I am using the yellow and sapphire ceramic hones I am putting very little pressure on the hone.
Do not buy the leather hone, it is not worth it. Instead buy or make a strop and learn how to use it. It works far better than the teeny hone.

Do you use the sapphire stone last? I know that's how its intended but many people on the amazon reviews found better results by using it before the yellow ultra fine stone. Either way, I'll be adding that to the kit soon.

I got my kit today and sharpened two blades. The kit works really well I think and was able to get both knives very sharp with ease.

First was a Kershaw Blur that used to be my EDC but was mostly dull due to issues sharpening the recurve. It sharpened up great but I think I could've done better by spending more time on the coarse stones. It was very sharp but seemed to have a few teeny chips in the edge still.

Next was my Kershaw Select Fire that gets used rough daily. I had basically the same results as the blur so I went back and redid it while not moving past the extra coarse stone until it seemed like I had all the chips completely out. When I finished that time it sliced through newspaper like butter. Too bad its 8CR13 so it'll be dull again by Friday!