Specific question on Gatco sharpening system

A

anotherbrother

Joined
Feb 11, 2010
Messages
45
Hi there,]
I just received the Gatco red boxed 5 stone sharpening system. I'd actually ordered the Gatco Grey boxed Diamond set. Suppliers are in process of sorting this out for me!:rolleyes:

I had a look at the red stone set and a couple of things stuck out..
First, the guide rods seemed alot thinner than expected. I have only come across Gatco from the Youtube vids by blunt truth 'sharpening my way'. The guide rods in those films look really thick. Wondered if Gatco have reduced the spec?
Can anyone tell me the rod thickness of their set?

Also, one of the rods/stone assembly was way out of line. Instructions mention this possiblility and suggest you just bend into line. As there is no rod clamp, I can't see why the bent rod would not just roll around?

Maybe Lansky seems better now???:rolleyes:

Any info gratefully received.
Thanks
 
Greetings Anotherbrother: I have and use a GATO Diamond Hone set. The guide rods measure 1/8 inch in diameter. The rods are a GUIDE not a FIXTURE. You do not wish to apply enough pressure when sharpening to bow them out of spec. They keep the hone's contact angles fairly consistent but they are not capable of very high precision. The size of the guide rod slots in the clamp also allow some variation in angle. You can "eyeball" the straightness of the rods using a flat surface and bend them back into acceptable straightness. Make sure you don't pull them out too far. IMO its not a bad cost effective system within it's limitations. OldDude1
 
OldDude1 hits it pretty much on the head in all points he mentioned. I have a GATCO diamond set, and the rods are 1/8" diameter. These sets definitely have some limitations, and with regard to using them, it's always best to use the lightest pressure possible. Use a coarser stone, and let it do the work. As OldDude1 mentioned the rod is just a guide to keep the stone on the proper plane.

I also have a Lansky set, and it's also prone to rods bending (they're also 1/8"). In my opinion, it's probably more so with the Lansky. They use an L-shaped rod with the 'short' leg of the L extending upwards into the hone's mounting hole, held in place with a thumbscrew. The Lansky's rods are prone to bending along their length, and also at the 'elbow' of the L. Every time I set mine up, I make sure to check them for straightness and for true perpendicularity at the elbow (I think this is good practice anyway, regardless).

As mentioned before, don't pull the rod too far out of the GATCO hone. I've found that in most cases, unless you're working on a very wide blade, you should be able to leave at least 1" to 1-1/2" of rod inside the hone while sharpening. That gives what I feel is enough support to keep the rod from moving/wobbling around (up/down) while you're working. I do wish that GATCO would've used a thumbscrew to more snugly hold the rod in place, but that's just wishing...

Good luck.
 
When I used my Lansky, I would set the stone flat on a flat surface with the guide rod in the hole but set screw loose. I would check for flatness, and then tighten so all grade stones were at the same angle. I learned this the hard way, and got real frustrated when I beveled much higher than I wanted to to. It is a learning process. I also removed those flag style thumb screws for thin profile hex ones, it gave the stone a longer stroke and improved the gadget a bit. It allowed for more stone surface to be used as well. The stone surface area is small, so any increase is worth it. Sorry to drift the thread, I just remembered it was about Gatco.
 
cj65 said:
When I used my Lansky, I would set the stone flat on a flat surface with the guide rod in the hole but set screw loose. I would check for flatness, and then tighten so all grade stones were at the same angle. I learned this the hard way, and got real frustrated when I beveled much higher than I wanted to to. It is a learning process. I also removed those flag style thumb screws for thin profile hex ones, it gave the stone a longer stroke and improved the gadget a bit. It allowed for more stone surface to be used as well. The stone surface area is small, so any increase is worth it. Sorry to drift the thread, I just remembered it was about Gatco.
Click to expand...

Ditto on setting hone & rod on a flat surface to ensure accurate setup. That's how I've been doing it.

Replacing those big, ugly thumbscrews with low profile screws is a good idea. In retrospect it seems like an obvious upgrade in setup, so I'm wondering why it never occurred to me. At one time or another, the thought crossed my mind about using different screws to hold the rods in place (I'm not crazy about thumbscrews in general), but it never even occurred to me about how the low profile screws will allow more travel for the stone. Again, GOOD IDEA! :thumbup: Now, I'll have to put some of those screws on my shopping list...
 
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