next stones for the lansky

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nasty_nate_84

Joined
Jul 8, 2014
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72
i was wondering what srones i should buy next? i already have the ultra fine, saphire, leather strop, and am getting the soft arkansas stone, what other stones can i add to get that edge sharper or mirrored?
 
Getting it sharper starts at the very first (coarsest) stone, in establishing a fully-apexed edge. If the work done on that one is good, the finishing stones you've got can easily do the rest. A mirror finish will always be better if the grinding marks from each stone are completely erased by the next finer stone. If that's done well, the UF hone will finish up to a mirror by naked eye. If any of the coarse scratches are left over at that stage, the polish at higher grit will make them stand out like a sore thumb. For additional polish, just wrap a single thickness of paper around your UF or Sapphire hone and use some fine stropping compound on that. Some white rouge, Simichrome, Flitz, Mother's Mag paste or diamond compound (3µ or finer; better for high-wear steels) could all work in this capacity. Hard strops are likely the best polishers.

So far as I know, Lansky doesn't have any hones finer than the UF or Sapphire you've already got.


David
 
yeah it seems like the i get better. mirrored edges from stropping woth paper. but it doesn't. seem to make it sharper. i may finish stropping. with leather. or vice versa until i see the best results.
 
nasty_nate_84 said:
yeah it seems like the i get better. mirrored edges from stropping woth paper. but it doesn't. seem to make it sharper. i may finish stropping. with leather. or vice versa until i see the best results.
Click to expand...

That's a clue that the edge might not've been as fully apexed as possible, from earlier stages. When it is, the finishing stages become a LOT easier to get hair-popping results, polished or not. When it's done just right, it should only take a few light passes on a strop to see a big jump in sharpness. On the flipside, if the edge isn't fully apexed beforehand, the fine grit of most stropping compounds won't be able to make up the difference by themselves, and will more likely round off the thicker apex.


David
 
I've been using the Lanksy system for a year or so, but use it quite frequently on a variety of knives...4 inch blade fixed blade hunting knives to three plus inch folders of different blade types and they all are in a variety of steels...154cm, A2, Elmax, etc.
In my opinion the "sharpness" of the edge starts at the first step of the process with the coarser stones/hones.

I've found that I get a much sharper edge when I start with the medium diamond hone to redefine the edge on a dulled edge...a dull knife has different meanings for different people...to me if I can't shave arm hair or cleanly and smoothly slice phone book paper it needs attention...maybe only with stropping depending on its' needs.

I use the medium diamond hone to bring back the edge to the sharpness level I want. From that point on, to me with my limited experience, it is a matter of refining that edge and smoothing that level of sharpness to the degree I want it to be. The final stage in this process is the polishing of the edge to give the edge a nice shine while maintaining the shaving or better level of sharpness.

Some people are very satisfied by a sharp edge that is a bit toothy and lacking a mirror finish...my work knife is in this category...while others are not satisfied until the edge is a mirror.

I've achieved mirrored edges while actually dulling the edge...stropping too aggressively and rounding the edge...oops...practice and patience at this point is required to achieve both.

You may need to start with a coarser stone/hone to begin the sharpening process and move up through the grit levels to refine then polish to achieve the sharpness and polish you want.

Depending on the steels you will need a variety of stones/hones to begin the process using the "softer" finer grit stones to refine and polish.

I use the Lansky medium and fine diamond hones, followed by the medium and soft Arkansas hones then the yellow and blue sapphire ceramic hones and finally stropping on a 3x12 strop with black/green compounds to achieve a very sharp, smooth edge that also has a nice finish.
I'll be ordering a coarse diamond hone for reprofiling as the medium hone can take a beating and wears quicker than I thought for heavy reprofiling chores.
 
Stropping compounds like everyone else said. Also I've made a couple of wooden blanks that I can wrap materials around. Basically they are the same size as a lanky stone with a threaded insert so that I can still use the thumb screws and rods. I use one with a piece of leather with compound for polishing. On the other I attach 2000 grit sandpaper with double sided tape as I didn't have the patience to wait for a super sapphire hone to come in the mail. My next step for the lansky is to purchase the 3m polishing paper I've been checking out on Amazon. It's inexpensive and goes down to .5 micron. I'll just make a blank for each grit. If this is to much I've also just folded the paper to fit around the fine stone before I made the blanks. I was concerned this might damage my stone however. What I like about the lansky is that it's simplicity allows for easy modification. You can attach a lot of different tools as long as you adjust the rod to the same plane as the tool. For example on heavy relrofiling I've taped a file to the back of a lansky stone and put the rod through on that side. I've figured out quite a few tricks with the system and plan to post an article about them on here after I try the polishing papers.
 
Pick up a coarse diamond stone to make reprofiling the blade to the proper angle a faster task. Your knife should be extremely sharp by the time you're done with your coarsest stone whatever stone that may be, assuming you do your job right.

Use the sharpie trick if you're not already doing so, sharpie up the edge of your knife to make sure you're removing metal where you want. Use a jeweler's loupe to inspect the bevel closer to see what is going on (have a good light source or use a flashlight if you have to) and you can make corrections if you need to.

Think of it this way, you're making your knife sharp on your coarsest stone and with each progressive grit your goal should be to change the scratch pattern as it's already sharp. So you're going from a toothy edge to a more polished edge, thus changing the cutting characteristics.

I mention this as it sounds like your not fully apexing your edges just like Obsessed With Edges mentioned earlier, so these are a few little tips/tricks.
 
okay i understand all this now especially after last night. you guys can wach my video link on here called look watch now. im pretty satisfied with that edge, and it is a mirrored. finish. maybe. im missing something though. looking at the blade point in the light. and it looks un even on the tip part of the blade whats the best way on my system to get a nice even edge on both sides
 
I use a jewelers loupe with a head band light...I look a bit goofy when sharpening a knife but what the hell goofy is cool.
 
nasty_nate_84 said:
okay i understand all this now especially after last night. you guys can wach my video link on here called look watch now. im pretty satisfied with that edge, and it is a mirrored. finish. maybe. im missing something though. looking at the blade point in the light. and it looks un even on the tip part of the blade whats the best way on my system to get a nice even edge on both sides
Click to expand...

I had the same problem. The deal was the clamp wouldn't hold the knife straight. No matter what I tried the apex of the edge would never be centered with the clamp. Some people say they put a piece of cloth in each side of the jaws and it helped. I couldn't get the clamp tight enough this way. Also I had the new cast Web pattern clamp (which is a major downgrade from the old solid version) and it would bend slightly as well. One way I found was to lay a protractor against the rail with the guides and move the knife till each side was equal. Still moved as I tightened down the clamp though. That shoddy clamp broke the other day. I'm getting the kme sharpener. I emailed the creator and he said it doesn't have this centering issue because the jaws clamp the center of the knife rather then the spine. He assured me full hollow ground blades would be no problem. It's kind of pricey at $124 but it's still way below the wicked edge in price. Haven't read one bad review about it. Also it holds the knife horizontally like I'm used to with the lansky. Aaannnddd infinitely adjustable bevel angle. No more reprofiling everytime I sharpen. Anyway as you can tell by the length of this response I'm excited to get this system
 
nasty_nate_84 said:
yeah but like you said 130 to 60 bucks
Click to expand...
I know. I'll have to save for it. I wonder if two thin straps of rubber would help it to self center. Like 16th inch weather stripping? The problem I had was that fully hollow ground blades would try to cock sideways and lay flat on the top or bottom. If my clamp hadn't broken I'd try it and let you know. Would also keep from scratching the blade.
 
Ryan J said:
I know. I'll have to save for it. I wonder if two thin straps of rubber would help it to self center. Like 16th inch weather stripping? The problem I had was that fully hollow ground blades would try to cock sideways and lay flat on the top or bottom. If my clamp hadn't broken I'd try it and let you know. Would also keep from scratching the blade.
Click to expand...

Hey man was watching some YouTube today and came across a video that made me think of this thread. It's about how to get a knife centered in the wicked edge clamp. The clamp works in the same way so his method will work for the lansky. It just occurred to me that maybe your talking about the bevel angle being different on the tip on the same side of the blade. This is just a result of the angle changing because the tip curves in and as a result is closer to the clamp. This video won't show how to fix that. I thought at first maybe you were saying that the bevel angle was different from side to side. That's the problem I had and this video addresses it. Anyway, hope it helps. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MbwCbORZ3aUv=MbwCbORZ3aU"]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MbwCbORZ3aU[/URL]
 
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