Sharpening my Izula

ridgeline

ridgeline

Think Twice - Post Once
Joined
May 10, 2009
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I decided to touch up the edge on my Izula tonight, I have a Lansky sharpening system, with coarse, medium, fine, and ultra fine stones. After doing my research here on BF, it seemed like everyone was in agreement that the Izula has a 20 degree v-grind. I set about doing a few passes on each side, started with medium stones and went to fine stones, checking the edge as I went. I noticed that the edge wasn't sharpening, but the edge of the blade coating was smoothed instead. I must have the wrong angle or something, but I am using the 20 degree slot on the little Lanksy vice, I was confused by this so I stopped and thought I'd post here and see what you guys thought. I'm not looking to alter the angle or reprofile the blade in any way, I just want to maintain the edge on my beloved Izula.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
 
I've been on the fence about buying a Spyderco sharpmaker after reading here and there also. I've added a few nice blades to my collection lately, RC-6, RC-4, Izula, ZT 0301, and soon to arrive Endura 4 in ZDP-189. I'd like to have the best sharpening solution/system for all of those blades. I've never had great luck with my Lansky, I think I'd be better off with another system. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
Sharpmaker gets my Izula, RC3 & RC4 hair poppin' sharp on the 40 deg angles...

Throw some sharpie on the edge to make sure you are getting at the edge consistently...

Good luck!
 
I'm hitting high on the edge with the 20 degree angle setting as it is, that's why I can see where I've smoothed down the rough coating on the blade edge. If it's a 20 degree grind, shouldn't I be ok using the 20 degree setting on my Lansky?
 
I'm not familiar with the Lansky system, but I agree with TrailWolf. The Sharpmaker should do well, and using permanent marker to coat the edge will show how much and which parts of the edge are being sharpened. Using the marker trick can also help when learning how to sharpen freehand, if you're interested in the challenge.
 
ridgeline said:
I'm hitting high on the edge with the 20 degree angle setting as it is, that's why I can see where I've smoothed down the rough coating on the blade edge. If it's a 20 degree grind, shouldn't I be ok using the 20 degree setting on my Lansky?
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Again, like I said, I'm not familiar with the Lansky, but could it be that the 20 degree setting is inclusive? In which case it would definitely be hitting the shoulders of the Izula, as the angle is too acute. Is there a 40 degree setting on the Lansky?
 
7rip13a said:
Again, like I said, I'm not familiar with the Lansky, but could it be that the 20 degree setting is inclusive? In which case it would definitely be hitting the shoulders of the Izula, as the angle is too acute. Is there a 40 degree setting on the Lansky?
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right on.

I dont know the lansky either but make sure the 20 deg you are using is not 20 deg inclusive - meaning a 10 deg angle on each side.

You want 40 deg inclusive meaning a 20 deg angle each side...
 
My guess is the factory angle is off by a few degrees or the Lansky is off by a few degrees or even both. I would just continue to use that setting and thin her down a bit. Shouldn't take too long with the coarse hone. Thinner is almost always better, well unless you are chopping concrete.
 
The Lansky settings range from 30, 25, 20, and 17 degrees per side, not inclusive. I just dug up the instructions for it, I think I figured out what I was doing wrong. When I get home from work tomorrow, I will give it another go heeding the steps I was forgetting earlier this evening and see how well it works then. I'm fairly confident it will put a seriously sharp edge on there, I had great luck with the kit when I first purchased it, but the last few attempts I've made with it have been pretty lackluster. We'll see how well it does, I'll post back with my results. Thanks again guys, I appreciate the tips and input.
 
If the Lansky is anything like my Gatco there are two possibilities. First, the angles may not be exact from the factory. Second, I believe the angle changes slightly depending on how you clamp the blade. Are you barely clamping the back of the spline or setting it deeper into the clamp? I've been trying to place each blade the exact same place every time. I may actually write a note with rough measurement/placing instructions for each knife. Someone let me know if this makes sense.
 
Okay I see your problem, you see the lansky gives you an angle based on a specific blade width and a specific spot to how much spin you clamp, if you want the lansky to preform a perfect sharpening the same as your factory edge, use a sharpie, if you are hitting the back on the coating, then loosen your clamp and shove your knife deeper into it, if you are hitting the edge with too much angle, loosen the clamp and give less of the knife to the clamp. You see, lansky 20 degrees is based on arithmetics, were the angle is subject to the width of the blade and the angle stops only, as spydercos system doesn't put into their system such variables as its the knife that is moving on a sed of rod set to an angle based on the vertical. So if you understood all this good, if you didn't tell me i'll draw you a picture :)

Enjoy that pesky little Izula, so much love in such a small steel
 
ridgeline said:
had great luck with the kit when I first purchased it, but the last few attempts I've made with it have been pretty lackluster. We'll see how well it does, I'll post back with my results. Thanks again guys, I appreciate the tips and input.
Click to expand...

perhaps your stones are dirty? i've used goof-off to clean mine up before.
 
kta2402 said:
Okay I see your problem, you see the lansky gives you an angle based on a specific blade width and a specific spot to how much spin you clamp, if you want the lansky to preform a perfect sharpening the same as your factory edge, use a sharpie, if you are hitting the back on the coating, then loosen your clamp and shove your knife deeper into it, if you are hitting the edge with too much angle, loosen the clamp and give less of the knife to the clamp. You see, lansky 20 degrees is based on arithmetics, were the angle is subject to the width of the blade and the angle stops only, as spydercos system doesn't put into their system such variables as its the knife that is moving on a sed of rod set to an angle based on the vertical. So if you understood all this good, if you didn't tell me i'll draw you a picture :)
Click to expand...

That pretty much sums it up. Just clamp the blade in the jig so that the front edges of the clamp are flush with the blade. This will keep the blade from flopping when you apply downward pressure. Use the 20 degree slot and sharpen away. It will not be a big deal if you grind down the powder coat edge a little. Progress through your stones, raising a burr before progressing and it will be shaving sharp.

As long as you duplicate the clamping each time you sharpen, the angle will be the same or very close and will touch up easily.
 
I believe the 20 degree slot is different on both sides because one side of the clamp moves, and the 20 degrees should be based off of the edge of the clamp, not the edge of the blade, longer blades=less angle. What you should do is mark your edge with a sharpie, and find the angle that grinds away the sharpie evenly instead of relying on the set angle slots.
 
The angle is going to change the farther you get from perpendicular to the blade where it is clamped. If you have aperfect 20 degree angle right at the clamp, as soon as you start moving at an angle towards the heel or the point of the blade, the base of the triangle becomes longer and the angle gets shallower. If you chuck it up the same way every time, you should get the same results, but the angle will not be 20 degrees along the whole length of the blade. Convexing is much easier.
 
hoopster said:
If the Lansky is anything like my Gatco there are two possibilities. First, the angles may not be exact from the factory. Second, I believe the angle changes slightly depending on how you clamp the blade. Are you barely clamping the back of the spline or setting it deeper into the clamp? I've been trying to place each blade the exact same place every time. I may actually write a note with rough measurement/placing instructions for each knife. Someone let me know if this makes sense.
Click to expand...

Makes perfect sence, Check out Bluntruth4u on you tube, he does a 4 part vid on sharpening useing a Gatco,(similar to the lansky) called "sharpening my way " I urge you to watch it, heres the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-KrDFLygeI
 
Well lets just say that devices such as spydercos sharpmaker, hand stones and leather hones might be the best way to go, too much hassle those clamping device.

Personnaly, I love the Fallkniven DC4 stones (really impressed actually) and still love my home made leather hone with compound, so thats my way to go, i still have a lansky but use it in the kitchen just for the stones, haven't used the clamp in a while :)
 
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