Lansky Turn Box - Different Versions / Rods??

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Witterings

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Mar 13, 2012
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Dos anybody know if the Lanksy Turn Box was sold as different versions that contained different rods, I was looking through today and it seems some are listed with Diamond Rods and some ceramic?
If so how do I tell which I have and were the diamond ones more aggrevive than the ceramic ones?

Also looking for replacements and possibly some more aggresive ones, they do some 9" ones, does anyone know if they fit the Turn Box as well or if they're just for the Master Edge
 
Witterings said:
Dos anybody know if the Lanksy Turn Box was sold as different versions that contained different rods,
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They were/are. Some have 600 grit according to Lansky, ceramic rods with the white 1000 grit rods, and the other ones have the same 1000 grit with diamond rods. I found the diamond rods to be more aggressive than the brown ceramic 600 grit, but do take some breaking in.
 
Got this from Lansky site; they still sell this model: The Diamond/Ceramic 4-Rod Knife Sharpening System;
features a hardwood turnbox with rod storage in the base, 2 medium diamond rods and 2 fine ceramic rods.

What's the diameter of the rods on Lansky?
You can get diamond rods from 80 grit up. They are 150mm long and 6mm diameter.
 
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Yes, both versions seem to be available.
https://www.lansky.com/diamond-ceramic-turn-box.html
https://www.lansky.com/4-rod-turnbox.html.

The ceramic rods in medium are brown. It should be easy to see the difference to the diamond rods (silver-shiny?). Diamonds also have a different texture (smooth ceramic vs. rougher diamonds).

Both 9'' rods (Master Edge) and 5'' rods (Turn Box) are 0.307 in (0.78 mm) in diameter (from the Lansky Homepage):
https://www.lansky.com/gourmet-fine-grit-replacement-rod.html
https://www.lansky.com/turn-box-series-fine-grit-replacement-rod.html

Lansky's diamond rods are 600 grit, "medium" ceramic is 800 grit and fine ceramic 1.000. I would say that medium and fine (I don't have these rods but both serrated hones for the guided system) are quite similiar to Spyderco rods / stones (medium, fine). The diamond stone (I have a 600 grit pen sharpener) should be what other brands call "fine diamond".
The diamond rod is more aggressive than the medium ceramic. If you are looking for a system to keep sharp edges sharp, the ceramic version is great. If you have the need to do minor repairs or have to deal with blunt edges regularly, it would be nice to have the diamond rods, too.
You have the ceramic version? Buy some replacement diamonds. You have the diamond / ceramic version? Buy some medium ceramic replacements.
 
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TheOne45 said:
Got this from Lansky site; they still sell this model: The Diamond/Ceramic 4-Rod Knife Sharpening System;
features a hardwood turnbox with rod storage in the base, 2 medium diamond rods and 2 fine ceramic rods.

What's the diameter of the rods on Lansky?
You can get diamond rods from 80 grit up. They are 150mm long and 6mm diameter.
Click to expand...

I've been doing more research and finding similar to what you have, I also found out the Turn Box came with different options as cudgee cudgee mentioned above and unfortunately I bought the all ceramic option not realising there were any different options.
I'm not sure if you're US based if so I'm across the pond and not so many options over here nor great descriptions on the websites saying what grit etc. they are.

I'm also beginning to wonder if it's also down to a couple of the knives I have but unfortunately they're the ones most used everyday, they were just cheap'ish supermarket ones with a celebrity chefs name on to promote them.
I thought if they were cheap rubbish you'd be easily able to get an edge on them as I imagined the material would be quite soft but that the edge wouldn't last any period of time for the same reason but I just can't seem to get an edge on them at all with the Lansky or Sharp Maker.

Maybe my answer's a lower grit diamond rod for the Lansky but maybe coupled with some better quality knives.
 
You should be able to get a decent edge even on a cheap knife. Maybe not a hair popping one.
The main problem both Lansky and Spyderco V-Sharpener have: They offer two angles. 15° and 20° (Sharpmaker) and 20° / 25° (Lansky Turn Box). Those V-sharpeners only work if the secondary bevel of a knife fits this angle of the V-sharpener.
If not you maybe just sharpen the shoulder (where the secondary bevel hits the primary bevel). Or microbevel (which does not work if the knife is blunt).
In that case you need to reprofile your blade first. That's where the coarser rods are made for. The medium ceramics are too fine / too slow to work for reprofiling. They are for maintaining.
Even with the coarser rods it will take some time because the surface is small.
 
Papilio said:
You should be able to get a decent edge even on a cheap knife. Maybe not a hair popping one.
The main problem both Lansky and Spyderco V-Sharpener have: They offer two angles. 15° and 20° (Sharpmaker) and 20° / 25° (Lansky Turn Box). Those V-sharpeners only work if the secondary bevel of a knife fits this angle of the V-sharpener.
If not you maybe just sharpen the shoulder (where the secondary bevel hits the primary bevel). Or microbevel (which does not work if the knife is blunt).
In that case you need to reprofile your blade first. That's where the coarser rods are made for. The medium ceramics are too fine / too slow to work for reprofiling. They are for maintaining.
Even with the coarser rods it will take some time because the surface is small.
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I think I understand although it's gone a little over my head, to put this in perspective I didn't know what a bevel or a shoulder was until about 5 hours ago.

The secondary bevel, is that the angle of the blade from the shoulder to the top of the knife?

This would make sense as I have been able to sharpen them with a whetsone but I'm guessing I've probably been doing it by hand at say 30° as opposed to the 20° I'm now trying to achieve so am just removing the shoulder.
 
The secondary bevel is that tiny, shiny part just above the cutting edge. When a knife tapers somewhere below the spine, that's what is called the primary bevel. The tapering between primary and secondary bevel is more or less distinct. Using your finger (very careful!), you can feel a "step" or shoulder on some knives. If the set angle of a V-Sharpener does not fit to the blade geometry, you will sharpen that "shoulder" and don't reach the cutting edge. So you sharpen and nothing happens. At least with a fine stone like a medium ceramic.
Until you use a coarse(r) stone / rod that grinds away more metal what helps you to change the blade geometry. When done correctly, the angle of the knife matches the angle of the V-Sharpener and you hit the secondary bevel and therefore the cutting edge. Now you are able to keep the knife sharp with the ceramics. Then V-Sharpeners withs ceramic rods work great. But they are sharpkeeper and not not sharpmaker.

My advise would be: Find a way to take your knife to the Lansky angle and keep it sharp with the ceramics. When done regularly (don't wait until your knife gets dull) that should work a long time until you need to apex the knife again.
 
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Papilio said:
Those V-sharpeners only work if the secondary bevel of a knife fits this angle of the V-sharpener.
If not you maybe just sharpen the shoulder (where the secondary bevel hits the primary bevel). Or microbevel (which does not work if the knife is blunt).
Click to expand...
Perhaps 'sharpie test' would tell where those rods are hitting the blade (or whatever fancy name someone invented if you use permanent marker to mark the secondary bevel 🙄).
 
Witterings said:
This would make sense as I have been able to sharpen them with a whetsone but I'm guessing I've probably been doing it by hand at say 30° as opposed to the 20° I'm now trying to achieve so am just removing the shoulder.
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That's going to take forever. Trying to hold an exact 20° angle on a whetstone is not easy, so I suggest coming in well below your target angle for the final (apex) bevel.

 
Papilio said:
The secondary bevel is that tiny, shiny part just above the cutting edge. When a knife tapers somewhere below the spine, that's what is called the primary bevel. The tapering between primary and secondary bevel is more or less distinct. Using your finger (very careful!), you can feel a "step" or shoulder on some knives. If the set angle of a V-Sharpener does not fit to the blade geometry, you will sharpen that "shoulder" and don't reach the cutting edge. So you sharpen and nothing happens. At least with a fine stone like a medium ceramic.
Until you use a coarse(r) stone / rod that grinds away more metal what helps you to change the blade geometry. When done correctly, the angle of the knife matches the angle of the V-Sharpener and you hit the secondary bevel and therefore the cutting edge. Now you are able to keep the knife sharp with the ceramics. Then V-Sharpeners withs ceramic rods work great. But they are sharpkeeper and not not sharpmaker.

My advise would be: Find a way to take your knife to the Lansky angle and keep it sharp with the ceramics. When done regularly (don't wait until your knife gets dull) that should work a long time until you need to apex the knife again.
Click to expand...

OK ..... so I got primary and secondary bevel the wrong way round .... If I get a sharpie and mark just the shoulder so I know her I'm targetting and use a 300 grit diamond stone, I'm guessing I should be able to reduce the shoulder / reprofile enough that the Lansky should become effective?
 
Witterings said:
OK ..... so I got primary and secondary bevel the wrong way round ..
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Some people refer to it one way, other people refer to it in the inverse. Yes that's confusing. Better to refer to the bevels by function, e.g. blade grind, relief bevel, apex bevel, IMHO.
 
A coarse 300 grit diamond stone will be very effective to reprofile a blade.
An important part of knife sharpening is angle (control). If you are able to reprofile the knife at the "Lansky angle" (say 20 degrees per side / sharpening angle, i.e. 40° blade angle), the ceramic hones should work great for touchups (if done regularly).

Freehand you won't hit a perfect 20° angle. That is not important. But the angle of the secondary bevel (I know it just that way, the first tapering looking from the spine is the primary bevel) should be close to the V-Sharpener's angle. The closer the better you hit the secondary bevel and the cutting edge.

Marking the secondary bevel can help to see if you are hitting the secondary bevel on the Lansky. To get a feel for the angle on a stone you could use coins (some trigonomegrics learned at school, Google will help) or a DIY project (cardboard, paper; fold or cut a triangle with the angle you need), a protractor or whatever you have.
 
And always bear in mind you're not limited to the angles on the box, I quite often use the rods free hand to knock a stubborn burr off or to touch up an edge. Just hold it in your hand like you would a stone, or adjust the angle of the knife relative to the stick right in the base.
 
Sorry OP, not trying to hijack.
I’ve been sharpening for ever…with no clue what I’m doing.
So a chefs knife advertising an 8* edge, really means 16* as far as a sharpener setting goes?
 
Papilio said:
A coarse 300 grit diamond stone will be very effective to reprofile a blade.
An important part of knife sharpening is angle (control). If you are able to reprofile the knife at the "Lansky angle" (say 20 degrees per side / sharpening angle, i.e. 40° blade angle), the ceramic hones should work great for touchups (if done regularly).

Freehand you won't hit a perfect 20° angle. That is not important. But the angle of the secondary bevel (I know it just that way, the first tapering looking from the spine is the primary bevel) should be close to the V-Sharpener's angle. The closer the better you hit the secondary bevel and the cutting edge.

Marking the secondary bevel can help to see if you are hitting the secondary bevel on the Lansky. To get a feel for the angle on a stone you could use coins (some trigonomegrics learned at school, Google will help) or a DIY project (cardboard, paper; fold or cut a triangle with the angle you need), a protractor or whatever you have.
Click to expand...

OK ... so I used a protractor to mark and cut a 20° angle on a piece of cardboard, I then put a bit of Blue Tack at the top / spine of the blade and pushed down until it was in line with the cardboard leaving an indent on the Blue Tack I could use as a reference point and used the 300 grit to reduce the shoulder to the correct angle.

I then went to the Lansky and now have all of the knives as sharp as I've ever managed to get them freehand with a whetstone in a tiny fraction of the amount of time so well chuffed 😁😁

I think I'm going to get the more agressive / longer diamond rods for the Lansky which will probably mean I won't have to use the diamond stone in the future and can use it just for a coupel of strokes if I feel it's needed.

A big thank you to everyone for your input, really is appreciated and especially to Papilio for your patience and detailed responses :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
That's great. Thank you for your feedback. That moment when you know you can get all of your knives scary sharp...that's a nice one, right?
Now that your knives are reprofiled to the correct Lansky angle the additional diamond rods will help you to resharpen your knives with minimum effort. As long as you do touchups on your ceramics regularly you will not need diamonds rods all too soon.

I am glad I could offer some assistance. I have learned so much in this forum and still learn a lot from guys that know much more about stones, sharpening systems and sharpening than I will ever do. Credits go to others than me.


GmpaJim said:
So a chefs knife advertising an 8* edge, really means 16* as far as a sharpener setting goes?
Click to expand...

Yes. Spyderco's Sharpmaker - for example - has a 30° and a 40° set. That means blade angle. Bisect and you have the sharpening angle (per side).
I don't know if this is true for all other V-style sharpeners (if they always give the blade angle instead of the sharpening angle).
8° sharpening angle would be very small. Is this an example? I doubt that a Chef's knife has an 8° factory edge.
 
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I couldn’t find the ad to reaffirm the 8* claim, if that’s what it really was, but am more knowledgeable now.
Thanks guys!
 
Papilio said:
That moment when you know you can get all of your knives scary sharp...that's a nice one, right?
Click to expand...

This ^^^^^ so true and teh fact I know I can now do it easily .... the hours I've spent trying to and buying different things to try is ridiculous.
 
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