Lansky Sharpener - Angles

H

Hoorenbeek

Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
35
Hi everyone. Im new to this sharpening system and I have a question. I already asked this on Lansky website, but they didnt get back to me.
So, the clamp has 4 different angles (17 / 20 / 25 / 30).
These angles are per side of the blade, giving you a 34° / 40° / 50° and 60° edge or these angles give you a 17° / 20° / 25° and 30° edge?
Im a bit confused about this, so any help will be appreciated.
 
Two things:

  • The marked angle settings are 'per side', so the inclusive angle would be double what's marked on the clamp.

  • The marked angle settings are only accurate (or nearly) as measured at the immediate front edge of the clamp.

Any blade edge which is further away from the front edge of the clamp, therefore lengthening the 'base of the triangle', will sharpen up at a lower (more acute) angle. This means narrower blades (measured from spine to edge) will be closer to the marked angle, and wider blades will be at a much, much lower angle.

As an example that I measured/calculated for one of mine, a blade edge that extends appoximately 3/8" beyond the clamp's front edge will sharpen up to ~15° per side, when using the '17' setting for the guide rod. That's a pretty significant reduction in edge angle, with a relatively small blade (think of the main spear blade on a Swiss Army knife, which is what I measured & calculated for). Blades that are wider, and therefore place the cutting edge even further away from the clamp's front edge, will sharpen up a much more acute angles on the Lansky.


David
 
Hi David, and thank you for the info.
So, if I want to sharpen a Buck 119, with a 40° edge, I will need to use the 25° angle on the clamp, since the 119 is a wide knife IMO.
Of course I can use the Sharpie trick to see what is going on, but Im not a big fan of that, so... I wanted to be sure about the angles on the clamp.
 
Hoorenbeek said:
Hi David, and thank you for the info.
So, if I want to sharpen a Buck 119, with a 40° edge, I will need to use the 25° angle on the clamp, since the 119 is a wide knife IMO.
Of course I can use the Sharpie trick to see what is going on, but Im not a big fan of that, so... I wanted to be sure about the angles on the clamp.
Click to expand...

That'll likely get you in the ballpark. If you wanted to, you could also use a lower setting (like 17 or 20), and then micro-bevel at the '25' setting. The wider microbevel would give you some durability at the working edge, while the thinner geometry behind it would improve slicing performance. Obviously, a lower angle setting might mean having to grind a lot of metal from that big, thick blade. With the Lansky's small hones, that would take a long time.

Using a Sharpie to mark your existing edge isn't a bad idea, actually. Darken the bevel, then use one of the Lansky's finer hones to test your positioning of the blade in the clamp at the marked angle choice, so the hone is grinding nearly flush to your existing bevels (assuming you want to match the existing bevels, anyway). This will also be handy if you want to make the bevels more acute (look for ink coming off at the shoulder of the bevels) or wider (ink coming off the very edge/apex).


David
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top