Manual/ Easy Sharpening?

[DIYknife]

I have a Work Sharp, but I'm honestly scared of it after I wrecked my Skyline in two seconds[emoji1]. I've been looking at the Lansky Guided system, with just the basic everything? Is this good/other options?

 

[knifedude802]

Lansky works alright. I own the one with natural stones, but have been tempted to look into the diamond ones. I know a lot of people swear by the Sharpmaker, but I personally haven't had much luck getting a "razor edge" with mine -- although with the extra fine stones it's a good possibility. The Sharpmaker is pretty quick and usable, and it can do different blade shapes relatively easily. If I had to suggest one cheaper system, it would probably be that.

My Lanksy seems to work well for bigger angles, like 25 and up, but below that, I end up getting crappy edges, and there's always parts running into each other. Also, if you're planning on doing any big blades, say over 4ish inches, the Lanksy is out.

 

[awestib]

90% skill, 10% tools, if that. If you don't get a shaving edge on the sharpmaker with the diamond rods, you don't get them with the finer rods either. DIYknife, I'd suggest that you practice with what you have, a different set up is most likely not making it easier for you although I have to agree that a non-powered option might be better at first for you. You could practice on the WorkSharp with cheap knives first, read the long thread here on BF about it (to not round the tip or to not create a recurve for instance).

If you want to go the "freehand"/manual way, IMO the best setup is a coarse oil or waterstone (Norton crystolon or a Nubatama Bamboo 150) to be able to reprofile a knife to a usable profile (thinning, less than 15 dps), then finish on the sharpmaker with the stones that come with it (the brown and the white = coarse and fine). That will give you an edge better than you ever need and this set up will teach you a lot about sharpening movements, burr, burr removal, feeling for angles etc. So for about 80-90$ US this can be had and lasts a very long time.

 

[mlanghornes]

90% skill, 10% tools, if that. If you don't get a shaving edge on the sharpmaker with the diamond rods, you don't get them with the finer rods either. DIYknife, I'd suggest that you practice with what you have, a different set up is most likely not making it easier for you although I have to agree that a non-powered option might be better at first for you. You could practice on the WorkSharp with cheap knives first, read the long thread here on BF about it (to not round the tip or to not create a recurve for instance).

If you want to go the "freehand"/manual way, IMO the best setup is a coarse oil or waterstone (Norton crystolon or a Nubatama Bamboo 150) to be able to reprofile a knife to a usable profile (thinning, less than 15 dps), then finish on the sharpmaker with the stones that come with it (the brown and the white = coarse and fine). That will give you an edge better than you ever need and this set up will teach you a lot about sharpening movements, burr, burr removal, feeling for angles etc. So for about 80-90$ US this can be had and lasts a very long time.

This, all day long. Its pretty much my exact setup/method, and it puts a great edge on quickly and cheaply. You do have to really understand the fundamentals of sharpening, though, but you get results and won't need to move to anything different unless you want to. Also, the skills you learn will transfer to other methods if you so choose to use them. For techniques/fundamentals, I'd look up jdavis's YouTube channel, along with Cliff Stamp's three-stage process. Don't worry too much about finding the perfect way to do it, just learn as much as you can from everyone.