lansky sharpener-woot-woot.

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Axis II

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I figured I would pass this onto my fellow sportsman. I have always used a more expensive pull through type knife sharpener and finished up with a pull through ceramic rod and could get them good enough but never great. I purchased a lansky stone system recently with all the stones and sat down tonight and played with a cheap gerber paraframe I use for general use. I couldn't even get this knife to cleanly peal an apple or pare yesterday at lunch. I will give a little review and tutorial below.

I started by using the course stone on 25degrees and did 25 strokes on one side due to how dull it was and 25 strokes on the other side and then just counted them down to 1 stroke on each side. I did skip 2-3 strokes say 25, 23, 20, 18, 15, 13 until I got to 10 and then 10-1. I noticed you have to clean the stone every other side. I switched over to medium stone and 20 strokes down to 1 stroke per side, fine stone 20 strokes down to 1 per side and extra fine stone, 15 strokes down to 1 per side and looked for an old receipt and it shaved it right in half. I thought now for the real test. I started to stroke my forearm hair and it took it right off after 2 passes. I have never ever!! been able to get a knife this sharp! I was a little reluctant on this kit as it seemed like a giant pain but I'm sure glad I got one. I have several cheapo hunting and fishing knives laying around so I know what ill be doing tomorrow. :)

If you purchase one make sure you get the pedestal for it. I clamped mine but too much work undoing it and tightening it. I'm picking up a pedestal tomorrow.
 
BTW I got the 3 stone kit off amazon for like $22 and purchased the extra fine stone locally for $8. I didn't need the other stones that come with the 5 kit for more money.
 
Glad for the excellent results. I have been wanting to buy a better system to use to sharpen my knives. Some seem so complicated. I don't mind complicated, just don't want complicated without excellent results. Does that make any sense?
 
dh1633pm said:
Glad for the excellent results. I have been wanting to buy a better system to use to sharpen my knives. Some seem so complicated. I don't mind complicated, just don't want complicated without excellent results. Does that make any sense?
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What do you currently have? At first I thought the lansky was complicated but it's super easy and works well. First knife I tried tonight I got good results.
 
It can take some time, but these things work wonders once you learn how to use it.

I once used my Lansky 5 stone system to put a near mirror edge on a Delica. I could shave with it. Not just arm hair either.
 
CZ9shooter said:
It can take some time, but these things work wonders once you learn how to use it.

I once used my Lansky 5 stone system to put a near mirror edge on a Delica. I could shave with it. Not just arm hair either.
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I'm not brave enough to try it on my face. :) If it can take arm hair I'm extremely happy. I abuse most my pocket knives so the edge will be dull in a month or two.
 
After using various guided stone sets for decades, a few years ago I smashed the piggy bank and invested in a Tormek T8 water-cooled rotary sharpener. Best money spent ever, in 1-2 minutes it'll sharpen anything into a razor blade, to a level barely attainable with even the best hand sharpening tools and elbow grease. I've made a habit of sharpening even our kitchen knives every couple of months. Highly recommended, at 12° angle fillet knives are so sharp that you quite literally don't feel it if you accidentally cut yourself and one gentle pull suffices to shave off all hair on the back of your hand. I even bought a pair of steel mesh protective gloves for some cutting tasks, these blades are scary sharp.
 
Very interesting.......Thanks for posting all of this information / experience / and impressions on this subject. I recently started looking at something for sharpening but decided to wait until after the holidays when life calms down a bit. Lots of good feedback here.
 
I guess I am getting old, I still use whet stones, but I recently added a homemade leather strop. I have several India stones and use a 2"x 8" if I have to really get after one. Then I fine tune it with the same size hard Arkansas. Most of my knives I just have to strop, but I have given up on the wife's kitchen knives. They will hardly cut melted butter.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
I still use bench stones. Between the leatherwork and some woodworking I have too many tools to sharpen besides knives to mess with any of the jigs. Big fan of the spyderco ceramic bench stones. I also make knives and have a belt grinder that takes care of the really dull stuff when necessary.

Growing up my dad and grandpa always gave me a hard time about my tools being dull. I'd show my grandpa something I was working on and he would pick up a knife or chisel and scrape at the hair on his arm and tell me I should try to get it sharper. I guess it became kind of an obsession. My dad quit bugging me the day he borrowed my pocket knife and cut himself...twice.
 
I use a couple stones that I have. I get good results, just not excellent. In the kitchen we have switched mostly to ceramic knives, they are razor sharp from the factory and keep their edge is you care for them. We do. My daily carry knife is a benchmade. Thanks for sharing the information. Its good to learn new things.
 
I've owned the Lansky system since 2002. For someone who could never sharpen a knife it is fantastic. Every knife and pair of scissors I own are sharp as well as any knife I carry.

The only thing I can't sharpen is a serated blade. I do have the stone to clean them up but I can't sharpen them.
 
I use an Edgepro. Like a lansky on steroids. Uses water stones, much cleaner than oil, and the angle is totally adjustable. Also gets past razor sharp, scary sharp, polishes mirror sharp to 5k grit.

The worksharp also does a very good edge, but you have to be very careful not to round off your tip.

I have found using stones, to be most effective you need to stay on one side of the blade until you get a bur on the off side.Then countdown the number of strokes like ohihunter described above. It is easier to monitor progress keeping up with the bur. In other words, stay on one side until you get a bur on the off side, the do the same number of strokes on the off side, counting down til 1 on each side.
 
Getting this lansky was probably a bad idea. I ate an apple today for lunch and I cannot eat the peal so I broke out my little 2.5-3'' Gerber para frame I sharpened Sunday and went to town on the apple peal and sliced it and then said hmmm, I wonder if the knife is still sharp and ran that sucker up my arm and now I have a 4'' bald spot. People are going to start calling me patches here soon or think I'm into some weirdness shaving my body hair. :)

One thing that I did notice was the tip wasn't that sharp. I tried to cut some heavy plastic covering off a 3 ring binder that was kind of messed up and it scored it but didn't go all the way through but the larger portion of the blade cut right through it. I figure now that its hair popping sharp about every 2nd time I use it ill just run the extra fine stone on it 15times a side to keep up with it. I tried cutting some rope with this thing a few weeks ago and cursed the whole time. I have two Kershaw folders that need done next but I'm not sure they will get as good as they have been run through a steel drag through sharpener for years. I will post back when I do those and probably not have any arm hair then.
 
Take a sharpie and mark the edge of your blade the entire length. Then set it up in your sharpener and make a pass observing how much ink you remove. Good education the aid in getting the angle correct with what you have, and see what is going on the full length, and tip.On curved blades, the curve can sometimes be hard to get right.
 
If bald "test" spots in your arms bother you, try pushing the blade completely parallel to your skin. If it's S-H-A-R-P it'll catch and cut the hair in the middle without needing additional resistance from the base of hair follicles. That's a real acid test if you got it right. It usually takes 4-5 passes with the leather wheel of the Tormek or good few minutes with a canvas+leather strop to reach that sharpness with a straight 10-15° blade.
 
kme-d-case-3-z-1.jpg my dad owns this kit (by KME) and I fiddle with it now and then....I'm no expert, but it gets my Delica 4 sharp enough to shave my arm hair. 20180102_203155.jpg this is the aftermath from a few weeks ago when I sharpened it. My arms are usually more hairy than this lol
 
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