Sharpener under $25?

TripleB67

TripleB67

Joined
Jan 28, 2016
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After 35 years of carrying smaller Case type knives I've finally decided to move to something a little more substantial (probably a Rat II, Cryo, RJ Tactical, or OSO Sweet since I'm trying to stay under $40 and a 3" or less blade). With that move I would like to get a decent sharpener, that's very easy to use, without spending much money...which seems to be a difficult task.

In my looking I came across the Lansky TB 2D2C Diamond Ceramic Four Rod Turn Box for right at that price.

Is that my best option at that price point?

Also, do I need to purchase honing oil as well?

Thank you for any and all help you can provide.

TripleB67
 
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Well i own the exact same system for now, it gets my knives hair shaving edges. But one downside is the wooden hole drilled is not very precise, so you could have one side a 22 and another at 21. My best advice is to save up a little for the sharpmaker, or the lasnky Master edge.

-Kevin
 
I have the 4-rod ceramic Turnbox and it is a good system. I can't speak to the lansky diamond rods as I haven't personally used them. The grey medium is fairly coarse so I would recommend picking up some 3/8"x8" white ceramic rods. You can find them for about $3-$4 each.

One thing I will say about using round rods is the inability to sharpen all the way back to the ricasso. You'll be left with about 3/16" that you can't reach. Not a huge deal, just something to be aware of.

+1 on the sharpmaker. If you decide you can wait and save up for it, it really is an outstanding system that you will not be disappointed with.

Edit: My mistake on the rods. I didn't realize the diamond set came with fine ceramic.
 
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It will do the job just fine. As with any sharpening system, it's up to you to maintain consistency. Use it the same way every time and you'll get good results. 21 on one side vs. 22 on the other doesn't matter if you orient the box the same way each time.
 
Thanks for the input so far...1 more question if I may.

With the Lansky Wood Block System, they have two models in which the only difference is the rods that come with the block:
a) 2D2C ($25) that contains two 5" long medium diamond rods (600 grit), and two 5" long fine ceramic rods (1000 grit)
b) LCD5D ($13.50) that contains four 5" long alumina ceramic rods. (2 medium 600 grit grey rods, 2 fine 1000 grit white rods)

It seems the only difference is the more expensive has diamond rods (600 grit) compared to alumina rods (600 grit). Are the diamond rods worth the extra $11?

Thanks for all the help!

TripleB67
 
TripleB67 said:
Thanks for the input so far...1 more question if I may.

With the Lansky Wood Block System, they have two models in which the only difference is the rods that come with the block:
a) 2D2C ($25) that contains two 5" long medium diamond rods (600 grit), and two 5" long fine ceramic rods (1000 grit)
b) LCD5D ($13.50) that contains four 5" long alumina ceramic rods. (2 medium 600 grit grey rods, 2 fine 1000 grit white rods)

It seems the only difference is the more expensive has diamond rods (600 grit) compared to alumina rods (600 grit). Are the diamond rods worth the extra $11?
Thanks for all the help!

TripleB67
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In a ceramic V-crock type sharpening setup, $11 for a diamond upgrade will ALWAYS be worthwhile. ;)

It'll make a big difference in the versatility of the set, being much more capable of major edge repairs and rebevelling jobs; also more useful with high-wear steels like S30V, D2, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to invest the extra little bit of money, if this type of sharpening setup is what you're preferring to use. Heavier grinding tasks could also be done with a huge array of other benchstones, etc., but the inclusion of diamond rods in V-crock set is almost always worth the money. Otherwise, the ceramics alone will be very limited, mainly for maintenance & touchup of already decently sharp edges. More often than not, those who've purchased these sets with only ceramics have eventually wanted something more aggressive, for bigger jobs.


David
 
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Diamonds will be well worth it in Lansky Turnbox, just had someone buy a set to use on their kitchen knives to get them away from their pull through sharpener. Having used the Sharpmaker and the Turnbox I would say the diamonds are a must and I pity the person who tries to reprofile a blade with just the ceramics. My impresson is the lansky medium/fine ceramics are just a little more coarse than the spyderco's medium/fine ceramic rods. Difference between diamond and ceramic at 600 grit is night and day, their is no way around it as the media used really does make a huge difference. It is highly recommended you buy the diamond version. In short I am just backing up what David said.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
In a ceramic V-crock type sharpening setup, $11 for a diamond upgrade will ALWAYS be worthwhile. ;)

David
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Bob6794 said:
It is highly recommended you buy the diamond version. In short I am just backing up what David said.
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I appreciate your input.

Many have people have recommended both the Lansky Master's Edge Sharpening System ($37) and the Spyderco Sharpmaker Sharpening System ($54). I looked at both of those and unless I'm reading something wrong they both only come with just the ceramic rods, no diamond rods. So what makes them a better system than the $25 Lansky Wood Block System?

Being somewhat of a 'newbie' at sharpening, the easier the system is to use the better it is for me.

Thanks for your help and advice.

TripleB67
 
TripleB67 said:
I appreciate your input.

Many have people have recommended both the Lansky Master's Edge Sharpening System ($37) and the Spyderco Sharpmaker Sharpening System ($54). I looked at both of those and unless I'm reading something wrong they both only come with just the ceramic rods, no diamond rods. So what makes them a better system than the $25 Lansky Wood Block System?
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well, they each have different angle settings
the plastic lansky has more than the wooden lansky
but there are various tricks to get more angles with all systems even sharpmaker

then there is safety feature, sharpmaker, plastic lansky, have a hand guard, while the wooden lansky doesn't

then its triangles versus rods,
triangles can sharper smaller serrations than rods
the triangles have fish hook groove
triangles also have wider flat sides in addition to corners,
where as the rods are all corners (small surface area)
triangles can be also laid side by side to use as a bench stone
triangles are also a little longer (an inch?)


both have video instructions available

then its the grits available
lansky grits are 600/1000 on wood, and 800/1000 on plastic

and the effective grits / effective grits are
sharpmaker medium rods 12.5 +/- 1.0 micron or P1500 grit or J1200
sharpmaker fine rods 6.5 +/- 1.0 micron or P2500-P3000 or J2000-J2500

now, what grit rating system are lansky using so you can compare them to sharpmaker?
I don't know ... 856708 The Grand Unified Grit Chart

Either the 600/800 lansky are coarser than spyderco medium, or about same as spyderco medium
but the 1000 grit lansky are coarser than the spyderco fine
both stones will wear and get finer with alot of use , so ... yeah :D

you can use both to get shaving sharp, just the finer stones provide higher level of polish

both sharpmaker/lansky will struggle with thick/high angle blades ...
so you'll need a coarse stone of some kind
or $1 worth of sandpaper wrapped/clipped around the existing rods
 
If you are feeling particularly thrifty you can get loose ceramic rods and drill your own base with multiple angles

I remember seeing lanskey selling replacement rod sets for pretty cheap or you can find individual rods for a few dollars each
 
There are 3 versions of the Lansky Turnbox. Brown medium rods only, brown medium and white fine rods, and lastly diamond and white fine rods. The angles are 20 and 25 degree's per side. I highly recommend the diamond/fine rod version.

The Lansky Masters Edge has 3 angles 17, 20, 25 degrees per side but only have brown and fine rods but they are longer rods and use a different base which probably results in higher level of fit and finish in the base but will hold no performance advantage at the same angles. But there is no diamond rods so you lack the coarser stone which is extremely useful.

Spyderco Sharpmaker, I own this with the diamond and ultra fine rods and have more experience using this than the Turnbox. It's main advantages are the selection of grits with both coarser and higher grit stones being available to use. Another big advantage is the ability to have 15 and 20 degree per side for the angle selection as the more acute angle allows the knife to cut more effeciently (think about it as driving a wide vs narrow wedge into something, the narrow one will be easier to use). And the triangle setup has some disadvantages and advantages compared to the round rods. Advantages: corners are small and allow better use of sharpening serations, flat sides are easier to sharpen near the tip as there is more surface area before you have to lift blade off of stone or risk running it off and blunting tip. Disadvantages: far more expensive rods, and seem to load up easier from my limited experience as the round rods you can incrementally turn to load up all areas of the surface where as with triangle you are limited to 3 flats and 3 corners, if you prefer using the corner of the sharpmaker than the turnbox rods are basically like using the corners 100% of the time in feel

Realistically for $25 I would buy the Turnbox and add some rubber or silicon feet to it to help stabilize it in use. Than if you feel like using more acute angles buy a protractor and line up the angles you want and drill them into it or a separate board, I can't recall the exact dimensions of the rod but I have found the exact dimension drill bit to it in the past so it's definitely quite feasible. Also use a sharpie to mark up your bevel and use the sharpie trick. I could easily use the Turnbox as a replacement for the Sharpmaker and not regret it, in fact I prefer the feel of the Turnbox over the sharpmaker more as a matter of personal preference and I would have just done what I described to mod it and not look back if given the choice again.

Don't worry about higher grits as all they do is change the level of refinement in the edge. A coarser or toothier finish will result in better slicing applications when you draw the blade through something like a saw (doesn't need to be back and forth just that motion one way). The finer grit stones will leave a more polished edge which result in better push cutting applications, so imagine leaving it perfectly still minus a vertical motion downward. Both are equally sharp when sharpened properly with all other things being equal but their cutting characteristic is different.
 
Don't forget that a round rod will not be able to reach the heel of the blade if you sharpen blade that is not 'dropped'. RJ tactical or OSO Sweet should be ok but RAT II might be more difficult or impossible for something like Spyderco Delica. Triangle rod will do.
 
I appreciate everyone's input. Since I'm new to sharpening, even though I've owned knives for 35 plus years, I may go with the $25 Turn Box and get 'my feet wet' with it and then go higher quality at a later time.

Do I need honing oil with the Turn Box?

Thanks.

TripleB67
 
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TripleB67 said:
I appreciate everyone's input. Since I'm new to sharpening, even though I've owned knives for 35 plus years, I may go with the $25 Turn Box and get 'my feet wet' with it and then go higher quality at a later time.

Do I need honing oil or anything else other than the Turn Box?

Thanks.

TripleB67
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With ceramics and/or diamond, you don't need oil. Ceramics are normally used dry, and diamond works well either dry or wetted with water (dish soap & water also works well with diamond). But oil won't serve any advantage with these, and is likely to create a bigger issue keeping them clean. The wood base of the TurnBox will also be better served if everything is used dry.


David
 
You don't need any lubricant with ceramic or diamond rods. Just turn them as they load up with steel. Use an old toothbrush and comet cleanser to clean the ceramic and wipe the diamonds down with a damp rag.
 
TripleB67 said:
I appreciate everyone's input. Since I'm new to sharpening[\B], even though I've owned knives for 35 plus years, I may go with the $25 Turn Box and get 'my feet wet' with it and then go higher quality at a later time.

Do I need honing oil or anything else other than the Turn Box?

Thanks.

TripleB67
Click to expand...


I'm only bringing this up because you mentioned you're new to sharpening and I hope I can save you some frustration. I thought the Turnbox system was nearly useless until I understood the concept of the micro bevel. It is very well suited for applying and maintaining micro bevels. If your knives have a secondary bevel >40° inclusive you will be in good shape.

My frustration set in when I was, without understanding, trying to reprofile knives to 40° inclusive with the medium ceramic. Talk about an exercise in futility. All I knew was that I wasn't hitting the entire bevel and I needed to match my knifes bevel to the Turnbox setting. After I read the micro bevel sticky the light went on. I was able to really put the Turnbox to work, put very sharp edges on my knives, and maintain them with an extremely nominal amount of effort. I highly recommend reading this thread if you haven't.

Microbevels http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=634739
 
A can of bar keeper friend to use.on the ceramics when they start to turn gray will save you some frustration.
 
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