Lansky

[Requiescat in pace]

Hi,
I’m sharpening a knife in 440c using a Lansky system. I started with the extra course diamond stone then the standard extra course standard stone (70 grit). I then went onto the course stone (120) which seemed to cut into the steel better. Can anyone explain why the finer grit is working better??

 

[Another Shepherd]

Ask on the "Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment" forum.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Hi,
I’m sharpening a knife in 440c using a Lansky system. I started with the extra course diamond stone then the standard extra course standard stone (70 grit). I then went onto the course stone (120) which seemed to cut into the steel better. Can anyone explain why the finer grit is working better??

With Lansky's diamond hones in particular, I noticed a quirky tendency similar to this, with a medium diamond hone seemingly doing a better job removing steel than did the coarser diamond hones in the set. I suspect it had something to do with very heavy clogging of the coarser hones, which seemed to go 'slick' very fast in use, presumably do to the stainless swarf covering and tenaciously clinging to the hone's grit. For this reason, I tended to prefer using the medium diamond more than any other in my Lansky diamond kit. For whatever reason, the medium diamond didn't seem as prone to quickly clogging.

I do believe that such clogging issues necessitate keeping the hones very well lubricated, if nothing else. I prefered mineral oil for that, as any water-based wetting of the hones tended to evaporate much too fast and the hone would quickly clog again with swarf sticking to the grit surface. This tendency seemed much worse with stainless steels like 420/440-grade stuff and similar stainless at lower hardness and with a high chromium content.

In general terms, Lansky's hones always made me scratch my head a bit. The standard hones (in aluminum oxide) had issues of their own, with glazing being noticeable on them. They were also prone to dishing / wearing pretty fast - especially if used on high-wear steels. I dished two of the coarser ones on a blade reprofile in S30V, after starting that job with those hones in essentially as-new, unused condition. The medium diamond hone helped me finish that job, BTW.