Lansky Sharpening System

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fadugleman

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Dec 28, 2012
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I have a couple questions about the lansky sharpening system. I want to buy a sharpening system for putting a new edge on my handmade knives. First of all is it even worth it? If so, is the basic enough or should I get the deluxe system. Should I buy the stand? Any tips or tricks when using them. My budget is around 50-65 dollars so if anyone could suggest any other system for easily putting a keen edge on medium sized fixed blades. Thanks in Advance, Fadugle
 
Assuming a guided system is the priority:

For medium-sized fixed blades, you might consider a DMT Aligner clamp, but used with a bench hone instead of the full Aligner kit. Depending on the steels you're using, that bench hone might be something like a DMT (diamond) for more wear-resistant steels like S30V, D2, ZDP-189, etc. OR, if the steels are simpler, something like one of Norton's offerings should work well. Their 'Crystolon' stone in silicon carbide is popular for heavier grinding and bevel-setting, and their 'India' in aluminum oxide is well-regarded as a maintenance and finishing stone. For your budget, I'd bet you could accomplish a lot with the clamp (~ $10-$15) and the Norton Crystolon (likely can be had for < $30 in most places).

I suggest a bench stone, because the small Lansky hones will work pretty slowly on large and/or thick blades. Especially for setting a new bevel, a lot of steel needs to be removed, and a the very small Lansky hones will be slow for this.

I'm not knocking the Lansky. I have two of their kits (the 5-stone Deluxe kit you've mentioned, and a diamond kit), and they're especially good with smaller knives like traditional pocketknives. But even in simpler steels, these hones take a very long time to set a new bevel on thick/heavy/big blades.


David
 
Thanks for the input what blade length would you say the lansky is no longer usefull. Also a guided system is not necessarily the priority but I do want something I can get good results with.
 
I have the Deluxe Lansky it works well on most of my smaller knives but the clamp is kinda weak. I snapped it when i got in a rush but still get use out of the stones. As for the Gatco system i stripped out the aluminum when i over tightened
 
For me at least the RAT 5 seems to be about the breaking point and that's like a 6 inch blade I'd guess. Also, it really flattens out the bevels on the tips on knives that size. Personally I go straight to bench stones on anything bigger then like 4.5 inches but that's my preference, not that they can't be used up to anything that the guide rod is long enough to handle.

If I were to do it again I'd buy a set of cheap bench stones, an angle guide and a pile of dull resale shop knives to practice on. Not because the Lansky doesn't work though.
 
fadugleman said:
Thanks for the input what blade length would you say the lansky is no longer usefull. Also a guided system is not necessarily the priority but I do want something I can get good results with.
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Depending on blade length, and it's shape/curvature to some degree, somewhere between 6" - 8" would likely be the upper limit. Some of the bevel width issues can be addressed by positioning the clamp mid-blade, instead of closer to the tang. The shape and curvature of the blade's edge, the thickness of the steel and the spine-to-edge width as well, can have a big impact on how even the bevel widths will be. In particular, if the steel is pretty thick near the tip, the bevels will almost always get wider as the edge approaches the tip, when sharpened using an angle guide.

If you don't necessarily need the guided setup, then I'd still suggest either a combo diamond bench hone, like DMT's Coarse/Fine, or either/both of the Norton stones I mentioned earlier. Either way, these will get a whole lot of work done.

BTW, the blade length isn't as limiting if using an angle clamp with a bench hone. There's more freedom of movement of the blade over and along the stone, therefore making more of the blade accessible, when it's used this way. This is part of the reason why I recommended DMT's clamp, as I believe it's at it's best in this capacity. A big part of the limitation with the guided hones is the length of the guide rods themselves, and the fact they all have to pivot from the hole in the clamp. That limits how far they can reach.


David
 
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fadugleman said:
I have a couple questions about the lansky sharpening system. I want to buy a sharpening system for putting a new edge on my handmade knives. First of all is it even worth it? If so, is the basic enough or should I get the deluxe system. Should I buy the stand? Any tips or tricks when using them. My budget is around 50-65 dollars so if anyone could suggest any other system for easily putting a keen edge on medium sized fixed blades. Thanks in Advance, Fadugle
Click to expand...

There is a good article about Lansky systems in the latest issue of Knives Illustrated. I looked online but couldn't find a link. I can't recall all the details but the writer, who is also a knifemaker, is a big proponent of this system. Says it is nearly foolproof.
 
What do you think the learning curve on just straight up using a bench stone would be like?

Im thinking like the dmt diasharp coarse/fine and a strop now....maybe with an extra fine arkansas stone or something
 
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