Novice needs help with his Lansky!

[linus the cat]

So after trying in vain to learn to freehand sharpen, I ordered a Lansky 5-Stone Deluxe and stand last week. I've been using it, and so far its sharpened my knives somewhat. But I'm not getting them hair-shavingly sharp. A lot of online testimonials gave me the impression that this should be possible with the Lansky. Either everyone is greatly exaggerating their ability to sharpen, or I'm doing something wrong.

The two knives that I've spend most of my time with are an unused ESEE 3 and my well-used Benchmade 551 Griptillian. Both of them I've been attempting to sharpen at a 20 degree angle (40 inclusive.) With both knives, I started with the medium grit stone and worked my finer. I am using a back and forth motion, going in one direction from the choil to the tip. Then I flip the knife over and do the same amount of strokes on the other side. Switch to the finer grit stone, repeat, etc. Finally, strop it on the back of a leather belt.

I would probably use each stone about 20-30 passes on each side before flipping. I have no idea if this is sufficient or not. I don't see a lot of YouTube videos where people are making a hundred passes with each stone, so its hard to judge.

So Blade Forums, am I doing something wrong? Am I not working hard enough? I know that with either knives after I've done my passes, I don't really feel a burr so I suspect there is something off with my technique but I have no idea what it is or how to fix it. Help me, knifemasters!

 

[gadgetgeek]

The main flaw with the lansky system is that if you don't set the stones and clamp exactly the same every time, they hit just slightly different angles. The sharpie method is very important with the lansky system. I would not be surprised if your not quite to the edge yet. Try with a sharpie and see what you are at. from memory, the standard lansky set are quite slow cutters. by the time I stopped using my lansky set, I had used up several stones, and for fast work had to use diamonds. They wear fast, so the best is to just get the medium, then finish with the standards, and once the diamond wears a bunch it will act like a fine, so you can then just get a new meduim from time to time. Much cheaper than buying the full diamond set.

One cheat that works well with the Lansky is to microbevel one notch up from your main bevel. Some guys like it, some don't. Also be sure that you are not riding the stone, as that can cause you to be changing your angles without noticing it.

 

[rutcrazed]

LTC, I am far from an expert but my guess from your description is that you are not raising a burr. Raise a burr on one side, flip repeat before moving up in your progression. Pictures of your technique would be helpful. Just my guess.

 

[Kai Winters]

I use a similar method with the Lansky. The number of strokes per side depends on the length of the knife blade, etc.
Before I offer my "tips" I suggest you look at your stropping to make sure you are holding the blade at the correct angle, applying proper pressure, etc.

Tips:
Make sure the "wires" are all flat, parallel to the surface of the hone.
Use a loupe to visually inspect the edge after honing one side to make sure you are honing the entire edge, checking for the burr, etc.
Certainly second using a Sharpie.
I have taken photos of my knives in the "clamp" so I can easily repeat placement when sharpening at a later date. Not perfect but does the job for placement.
Make sure you have raised a burr when using the coarser hones before moving on to the finer hones.
If using "oil" stones, clean them during use...wipe off fouled oil...add a drop or two of fresh oil and continue.
Practice applying varied pressure to the hones...not tons of force but enough to get the job done per hone and reducing pressure as you move up to finer hones.

Keep practicing and keep us informed.

 

[Bob6794]

When you are first using a guided system like this you are reprofiling the blade and it will take much longer as your resetting the bevel at that given angle. So you have to make sure your fully apexing the blade. This is my guess as to what is going on as you said you started with the medium grit, so I take it you didn't expect you have to do this. We usually reccomend for people to pick up at least 1 diamond stone with a lansky such as a coarse diamond for the initial reprofiling work as it makes it a lot quicker as diamonds act more aggressively and it saves your other stone from wearing out, only downside is you can't use preassure with diamonds or risk ripping the diamonds out. Though they do wear in after awhile or smooth out which is normal, general rule of thumb is try to use weight of the stone itself and a tiny bit more is ok so you don't have to be OCD about it but intentionally putting weight on it to speed things up is bad.

I would use a sharpie to help tell you how far you are actually sharpening on the bevel and if you anywhere near apexing the blade.

Once you do that than every time after that if you set it in the proper position or close to it at the same angle it will be significantly quicker to resharpen as you won't have to remove as much steel.

 

[pinnah]

Find an old kitchen knife you don't care about and practice with that.

The bit about doing the same number of strokes on each side is about keeping the apex centered. But I agree with others, you might not be raising a burr and actually creating a new apex.

If you've been using the knives for quite a long time without sharpening them or without sharpening them well, it may be that you will need to remove a lot of material to get a new 20deg bevel on both sides.

When starting with a badly dulled knife, I start with the course stone. Stay on on side until you raise a noticeable burr along the entire length. Then flip the knife and do the same number of strokes, which should raise the burr in the other direction.

At this point, you will have a new apex, roughly centered with a noticeable burr and from here on in, you can use fewer strokes, a progressively lighter touch and finer stones.

Flip and move to the medium stone to a burr. Flip again and raise a burr on the other side with the medium stone. This should take a lot less work.

Flip and move to the fine stone and bring a burr to each side.

For final honing, use fewer strokes and a lighter strokes. You're looking to remove the burr without raising a new one in the other direction. Takes a bit to develop a feel for this.

I consider what I've described to be "reprofiling" and it does take off a good bit of material. Not to be done regularly. Touch on a strop or with just the fine stones lightly for as long as you can.

In any event, provided you can get rid of the burr, this approach should shave hair after stropping.

Last comment... The Lansky is all about pressure. It's a great way to learn the feel of a stone on steel and what it means to raise and hone off a burr. I don't worry too much about perfect angle. The Lansky is close enough for me.

Hope this helps

 

[linus the cat]

Thanks for all the helpful advice, guys.

In the next couple of days I'll try to take a video of how I'm using the Lansky. I'm sure some of you will be able to spot whatever errors I'm making. Thanks again!