sharpening

sbl212

sbl212

Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
429
well i bought one of those lansky sharpening systems and im new with sharpening knives. And i was wondering how i find out the angle of the blades. is there a way to figure out the angle on the knife?
 
Factroy grind angles will not be as stright as what the lansky will produce, so the first thing you will need to do with almost every knife is set a completely new bevel. You can either adjust the stone until it makes contact with the factory bevel or set it at 17deg for everything. I can only really see using two of the settings with the lansky though, the 25 and 30 I see no point in having.

I have never really heard any good feedback about the lansky's but try it out and let us know how it works for you. One more thing, use a sharpie to mark the edge then take a pass or two to see where you are grinding.
 
Spyderco Sharpmaker :D is the close second.

The first: Freehand sharpening with spyderco stones (303mf) if you have enough skill:p:thumbup:
 
When it comes to sharpening, listen carefully to anything knifenut1013 has to say: the man knows his stuff!
 
SBL212 -

i saw someone recommend you use the 17 degree angle. if you choose to, be VERY careful. when i was younger, i destroyed a knife trying to use that angle.

personally, i wouldn't recommend anything under 25 unless you're a surgeon and sharpening your scapel.

ETA - pay attention to where you clamp the thing (can't remember what it's called) on. use a reference point on the blade, that you can remember, so you put it on the same position each time

if you have the "deluxe" kit with all five stones. start with the extra coarse and create your own edge rather than hoping to match the factory's
 
personally, i wouldn't recommend anything under 25 unless you're a surgeon and sharpening your scapel.
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90% of knife steels can handle 17 or less without any problems and going to a lower angle improves cutting performance MANY times.
 
New production knives can be horribly ground. In fact, alot of new knives I have received have mismatched grinds...like on side being at 20, and the other being 25. Lone Wolf is bad that way. Spyderco and Benchmade have been much better.

That makes rod-type sharpeners more difficult to use, if you think you want to just use one angle. The Sharpie marked edge will let you know right away. You can still get a nice edge on these, but it is pretty frustrating. It takes a lot of patience to get the more obtuse edge ground down to where you want it. Coarse diamond stones will do it with some patience..but some stainless blades will take a bit longer.
 
zignal_zero said:
SBL212 -

i saw someone recommend you use the 17 degree angle. if you choose to, be VERY careful. when i was younger, i destroyed a knife trying to use that angle.

personally, i wouldn't recommend anything under 25 unless you're a surgeon and sharpening your scapel.

ETA - pay attention to where you clamp the thing (can't remember what it's called) on. use a reference point on the blade, that you can remember, so you put it on the same position each time

if you have the "deluxe" kit with all five stones. start with the extra coarse and create your own edge rather than hoping to match the factory's
Click to expand...

One of the reasons I bought DMT aligner instead of Lansky is because the Aligner has 4 degrees interval starting at 16. For "fun" or top-of-the-line super steel knives I use 16, for EDC beaters I use 20. IMHO 25 degrees is a bit too obtuse for a pocket knife.
 
I have a lansky but I want to go to free hand. Is the sharpmaker the best system for making that transition?
 
Locust said:
I have a lansky but I want to go to free hand. Is the sharpmaker the best system for making that transition?
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I don't see the benefit in transitioning into freehand with benchstones, unless you're sharpening scandi or japanese grinds, or very large knives.

If you're doing it just for fun, it's cheaper to buy $5-$10 knives and practice directly on bench stones.

If you want to go to the next level of sharpness, you need to finish the process with leather strops and honing compounds.
 
I have sharpened hundreds of knives on my old trusted Lansky.

First... get the coarse and fine diamond stones.

Second ....take a quick pic of position of clamping. ( ref. for next time )

Third... mark blade edge with felt tip marker. This will allow you to select angle that closely matches knive bevel.

I use 20-25 -30 angles. 17 deg usually interferes with clamping screw. As mentioned in another post you are reprofiling bevel to match accuracy of Lansky system. Knives sharpened by hand (factory and custom) sometimes have different angles on each side. I once had a Strider PT CC that I had to use 25 on one side and 30 on the other side. Looked perfect.

It does take a bit of work to reprofile some edges. Sebenza hand sharpened with convex is a good example. Thins out tip nicely and gives you machine like uniform edge.

I don't strop or hand finish. You can shave with a 30 deg edge from a Lansky. Alternate side to side with fewer and lighter strokes to remove wire edge.
 
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Locust said:
I have a lansky but I want to go to free hand. Is the sharpmaker the best system for making that transition?
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Sharpmaker is what I used, and I still use the ceramics for some of my freehand sharpening now. I don't know if it's any better suited to the transition though. The best advice I could give would be to both try and acquire an idea of the angles in your head, and use frequent checks of the edge to find out how it's progressing as you go, whether by eye loupe/magnification, or feel, like I do. I typically start with a low grit and an acute angle, then make it a little less acute as I move up to finer grits. Provided they're not too calloused, your fingertips should be able ot feel a difference in the fineness of the edge as you progress/regress. However, too much of the tactile method can fuzz up the skin on your fingertips when the knives get shaving sharp, and reduce sensitivity.
 
I have a Lansky, and I have reprofiled many knives with it. I do not use any honing oil, I just clean the stones almost everytime I use them with Bar Keeper's Friend. I could never use the 17 degree setting because the clamp screw got in the way. I also modded my Lansky by getting some smaller hex screws instead of the thumb screws, this made room for a longer stroke. I recommend the sharpie as well as the mounting pedestal to keep your hands free. Work up a burr with the coarse, and then each finer stone moves through very quickly to the finest. Go very light as you are finishing on the finest stones. You may want to use a 25 or 30 micro bevel at the end, again very light strokes, and you will be shaving sharp. Now, all that takes me about 30 min to an hour depending on the knife I am working on, from set up to tear down to cleaning the stones. The paper wheels from flipping the switch on, dressing with wax and compound on respective wheels, and a few passes from a dull knife, even with hard metal takes less than a minute per blade. The result I obtained is hair jumping off my arm in large swaths, where shaving sharp with a Lansky is there, but not as sharp as the minute on the wheels. Grinder motors 6" are obtained at 40 dollars and up, and the wheel kit is about another 40. You really cannot go wrong, get a better polished scary sharp blade edge in under a minute. Now, I have time to beat the dog and read the neighbor's mail! :D I actually do neither of the last 2, I just wanted to know if you read my long winded post!:o
 
Locust said:
I have a lansky but I want to go to free hand. Is the sharpmaker the best system for making that transition?
Click to expand...

Buy a benchstone then buy a mora, the mora will teach you the proper way to follow the curve of the blade.
 
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