Sharpening Benchmades S30V,

[KrisNZ]

Hi all, can I sharpen BM's S30V with my Lansky system with standard stones or will I need to upgrade to diamonds?

Kris,.

 

[TravisH]

You 'can' but it will probably take noticeable longer. (It did in my experience.)

But adding Lansky diamond stones isn't going to be cheap. In fact, I found the DMT Diamond Aligner Deluxe 3-stone kit cheaper at KW.

I've also found the DMT system better and more flexible than the Lansky.


BUT ... since you've already got a Lansky system, give it a try first before upgrading.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Hi all, can I sharpen BM's S30V with my Lansky system with standard stones or will I need to upgrade to diamonds?

Kris,.

If you're just 'tuning up' your edge at the existing angle, you might be OK with the standard hones. If you ever want to re-bevel to a significantly more acute angle, lots of metal will have to come off; this will take a LOT LONGER with the standard hones, and you might not even get there. A few years ago, I re-bevelled a ZT-0350 (S30V) to a more acute angle, and managed to ruin two of my standard Lansky hones in the process (both dished out; no longer flat), before reaching for my one supplemental medium diamond hone to finish what I started. By the time I had reached an 'acceptable' result, 6 hours had gone by.

A single supplemental diamond hone from Lansky will only run you about $15 or so (they can be purchased individually). Well worth that investment to pick up a Coarse or maybe XC diamond hone for the big re-bevelling jobs. After setting the bevel with the diamond hone, finishing up with the standard hones should still work OK, if you still don't want to invest in the full diamond kit.

Most of the drawbacks of the Lansky system are in the small hone size (4" x 1/2"). With any of the hones, diamond or not, you'll invest some time in getting it done. The diamond hones will still likely cut that time in half (maybe shorter), as compared to using the standard hones on high-carbide steels like S30V.


David

 

[KrisNZ]

Thank you Travis and David, you've been a big help,

Kris,.

 

[calc]

A single supplemental diamond hone from Lansky will only run you about $15 or so (they can be purchased individually). Well worth that investment to pick up a Coarse or maybe XC diamond hone for the big re-bevelling jobs. After setting the bevel with the diamond hone, finishing up with the standard hones should still work OK, if you still don't want to invest in the full diamond kit.

This is exactly what I did when I still used a Lansky - diamond to reprofile, standard to refine. It worked just fine, and a C or XC diamond hone is well worth the time saved.