lansky

It's Arkansas stones which means they don't remove too much metal and metal removal will be extremely slow on some of the higher wear resistant blades. It can make it a little more difficult to sharpen if you don't have your technique down as you may be fatique after awhile and get a little sloppy without knowing which will result in it taking longer or a poor edge.

I would honestly say a Norton combo stone in silicon carbide (crystolon) or aluminum oxide stone would be better to start out on. Short version of each is the crystolon will be more coarse and remove metal faster and leave a more toothy edge on the fine side when your done and the aluminum oxide will remove metal slower and leave a more polished edge on the fine side. Both a great stones and I doubt anyone here will argue that they aren't worth the money spent on them. For an 8x2x1 your looking at around $20 for one combo stone.

If you want Arkansas stones there is nothing wrong with that but you have to understand the limitation of metal removal is a big one. So having a more coarse stone to start out on is highly recommended, a coarser silicon carbide, diamond would be my preference to start out on to do the major metal removal. Once you have a fully apexed blade and properly sharpened blade you can start moving up to those higher grit stones including the Arkansas with less issues. Take a look at some of the Tri-Hones they incorporate this idea into them. A Smithes Tri-6 is a good example of one it starts with a coarse silicon carbide and have 2 other stones progressively higher up after you do your job of making it sharp on the lower grits and it ends with an Arkansas stone.
 
Lansky is a very effective sharpening system with a very small learning curve. Easy to use right out of the box.
But the Arkansas stones will be very slow, especially with the newer steels. If you are cutting 440C on a Swiss Army Knife it will be fine, but for newer and larger blades, you'll be better off spending a few more dollars and getting the diamond stone set. Or. for that matter, spend a little less and get the DMT Aligner set with the diamond stones. Having tried the Lansky, GATCO. and DMT Aligner, I've stuck with the Aligner as it's a lot more versatile.


Stitchawl
 
I wasn't even thinking of the natural Arkansas version of their guided setup. If that is what your talking about your better served by the normal kit with at least a coarse diamond to do the reprofile to set it to the proper angle or more preferably the actual diamond kit. I was thinking benchstones.

I don't believe they have 440c on a swiss army knife they use much softer steel. I think it's closer to 440a but less wear resistant from my experience. I think my swiss army knives are among the least wear resistant knives I own and it's far too easy to remove a lot of metal from them so an Arkansas stone wouldn't be too much a bad thing probably.
 
Victorinox uses 1.4116 at around 55rc, it's similar to 425m and is much easier to grind then 440C. I would skip the Arkansas kit and go with either the standard 5 stone kit or the 4 stone diamond kit. Arkansas stones were great back in the day when most knives were made from 1095 but they don't work for the wear resistant steels like S30V or M390 that are so popular today.
 
gonebad395 said:
What are your guys thoughts on the lansky Arkansas stone set? Pros cons
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fsatsil said:
Victorinox uses 1.4116 at around 55rc, it's similar to 425m and is much easier to grind then 440C. I would skip the Arkansas kit and go with either the standard 5 stone kit or the 4 stone diamond kit. Arkansas stones were great back in the day when most knives were made from 1095 but they don't work for the wear resistant steels like S30V or M390 that are so popular today.
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Otherwise called 'X50CrMoV15' by Victorinox (sometimes they call it 'X50CrMo'). It's a good steel that takes very fine edges and sharpens easily, but with half the carbon of 440C, and quite a bit less chromium also; therefore not nearly as many hard carbides as 440C. More similar to 420HC. Arkansas might do OK on it, but I'd rather opt for either a diamond kit (will sharpen literally ANYTHING) or the standard/Deluxe kits with the standard AlOx/corundum hones, perhaps supplemented with at least one Coarse or XC diamond hone. If the Arkansas stones still appeal to you, maybe add a supplementary finishing stone (black hard or translucent) to one of the other kits as well. Any of the Lansky hones can be purchased separately, so it's pretty easy to build a mixed kit of your own, if you want to.


David
 
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With the Lansky guided system the stones are pretty small, with a short stroke as well. IMO the last thing you want is a slow cutting stone.
 
^^^^

This is my experience. I have the diamond setup and it cuts much faster. The Arkansas stones just plain won't cut any of my knives with "premium" steel and were painfully slow even on softer kitchen knives and multi tools.
 
Go with the diamond stones. So much better to sharpen with. They will sharpen anything. Even if you only have average steel knives like 440 it makes things some much easier. I love mine. I have the basic diamond kit and added a ceramic and sapphire
 
Ty guys,picking up the Dimond stones this weekend . The Arkansas stones give a nice edge but it takes a bit
 
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