Lansky stone problems

I

Ian Red Redmond

Joined
Jan 24, 2020
Messages
8
Hi all I appreciate that the Lansky Fixed Angle Sharpening Kit is pretty beginner kit but feel that it should perform reasonably well given I paid for it and it wasn't free!
However, I seem to be wasting my time trying to sharpen with it. First time out it seemed OK but now, it seems to have gone downhill rapidly! The stones seem clogged and smooth (even the extra coarse 70 grit stone) even after cleaning with the accompanying oil as described in the enclosed literature and furthermore with washing up liquid and a nylon scrubbing pad!
Obviously I'm not looking to blame the equipment straight away (😉) but they don't seem to be performing as I expected.
Anyone else have/had similar experiences and can point me in ANY direction?
May your blade always be sharp 🗡️
Ian Red
 
Try the Lansky Diamond stones if you can get hold of a set. The standard ones work well for a long time but eventually they tend to smooth out and need resurfacing over time (Though, not as fast as yours, so there could be something else wrong). If you use the diamond hones, just use them with soapy water (a tiny bit of dish soap and water in a dropper bottle).

If you want to continue using the standard ones, I would suggest getting hold of some very coarse grit silicon carbide powder and resurfacing your coarse grit stone on a flat piece of marble / glass / stone. Use a pinch of the silicon carbide and a little water for lubrication then simply grind the Lansky stone over the silicon carbide in figure of 8 motions for a little while until you feel the surface of the stone improve again. Add some silicon carbide grit if it smooths out too quickly.

If you can't find silicon carbide, then you could also try some really coarse beach sand.

Lastly - when using the Lansky stones for sharpening, make sure not to use too much pressure. Only really about the weight of your hand. Use a bit of the supplied oil as lubrication on the stones during use, and for cleaning them after sharpening.
 
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What stones and what steel? The extra coarse diamond stone can smooth out if you are applying too much pressure. Can you provide more info in what stones and what steel you’re sharpening?
 
Depending on the steel type(?) you're sharpening, it might be glazing the stones. Wear-resistant steels like S30V and others with significant vanadium carbide content will tend to polish the grit of the stone (that's called 'glazing'), because the vanadium carbide is harder than the abrasive grit (aluminum oxide), in the standard Lansky kit's hones. And the glazing happens faster with very small stones, such as with the Lansky hones. That's a very limited amount of abrasive surface area doing the work, so it wears faster. If you look at the stone's surface at a low angle, with bright light behind (like a window in daytime), you might see the surface looking 'glassy' and reflecting light - that's 'glazing'.

Some softer steels can also clog the hones. Low-alloy stainless like 420HC, 440A, etc, can clog a stone pretty fast. For those, you want to keep the hones well-lubricated to keep the swarf from clinging. Use the oil supplied with the kit for that (it's mineral oil). This applies to diamond hones also, which can get clogged very quickly in sharpening these steels.

If the stones are clogged with swarf, Bar Keepers Friend powder can be used to clean them. Scrub with a stiff brush and the BKF powder with water. The BKF utilizes oxalic acid, which dissolves the iron in the swarf. So it does a much more thorough job for this type of cleaning task.
 
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Sorry for the delay in replying and thanks for your responses. I've tried most of this, nothing seems to work, especially tried BKF which I've had since moving into our house 10 years ago and couldn't find a use for! Doesn't seem to work. Next step is the silicon carbide powder! Thanks again guys!
Red 🗡️
 
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