Sharpening Kitchen Knives with a Lansky

J

john4757

Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Messages
3
I've just purchased a Lansky system to sharpen my kitchen knives because lately I have not been satisfied with the results of the sharpening service I was using. My knives are primarily Wusthof and I've had them for many years. I have a couple of 8" chef knives, a 6" chef knife, a boning knife and a few paring knives. I have been following this forum for the past week or so and I've learned a lot. For practice I tried sharpening a couple of knives that I don't care about and I have been very pleased with the results.

After reading this forum and a number of other articles I think I would like to put a double bevel on the knives and then finish them with a couple of strokes on an Idahone fine ceramic rod. Would the 17 degree slot for the initial bevel and the 20 degree slot for the final bevel be the appropriate ones to use?
 
Yep. :thumbup:
In fact, when I sharpen with the Lansky (I don't often anymore because doing it on the grinder is so much quicker, but that's not to say the Lansky kit doesn't work great), I use JUST the 17 holes.
 
That is why I like the GATCO.It can go down to 11°. That is what I use on my kitchen cutlery.

I would go with the 17° and call it good. On kitchen duty I think the shallower the angle the better.

One nice thing about taking your sharpening in your own hands is that you can now easily experiment.

After you get the hang of the Lansky you may wish to experiment with stropping to further refine your edges. You may want to look and see what kind of finishing and finer grades of stones Lansky offers.
 
Is there a certain strop and compound you suggest buying HardH2O? I also have the lansky system with the ultra fine and sapphire honing rods, but I really want to see where stropping can take me! Thanks.
 
I am sure others will be along with the compounds they use. There are many variations on a stropping system. If you do it right it will reward you with a further refined and polished edge.

Mine is by no means the best system. My system is readily obtainable, inexpensive, and it works for me. After sharpening I test the edge. I then strop and test again. I can tell that stropping refines the edge and my blades are sharper for it.

I keep it simple. I have some scrap leather I bought for two bucks at Tandy. I got enough for several strop sized pieces. For a polishing medium I crayon on white and red polishing compounds from Sears. Cheap, easy, and effective.

There are strops you can purchase. You can get them plain and pre-loaded with compound.

I have heard that horse hide is the best.

There are various compounds you can use. Pastes, gels, liquids, powders, cromium oxide, diamond, flitz...
 
Hmmm... I've never heard of tandy, but I suppose scrap leather can't be too hard to find. Thanks again! Off to sears I go...
 
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