lansky controlled angle system

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smo1898

Joined
Nov 14, 2014
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Just got this in the mail today and im itchin to try it out, but have a couple questions...
My edc has a 15 degree edge on it, while the lowest "setting" on the lansky is 17. The blade is still shaving sharp but i want to polish it up with this, as it still has the factory machine markings, would a full re profile be necessary to do this?
Also, (basically the same question) once my blade is in need of a full sharpening should I go through the whole stone system to re profile or will starting with a medium stone and working my way up be suffice
 
smo1898 said:
Just got this in the mail today and im itchin to try it out, but have a couple questions...
My edc has a 15 degree edge on it, while the lowest "setting" on the lansky is 17. The blade is still shaving sharp but i want to polish it up with this, as it still has the factory machine markings, would a full re profile be necessary to do this?
Also, (basically the same question) once my blade is in need of a full sharpening should I go through the whole stone system to re profile or will starting with a medium stone and working my way up be suffice
Click to expand...

I have it, and my slightly unhelpful answer is, it's kind of up to you. If I get a new knife that isn't very sharp, I'll put it through all the stones. But once my knife gets dull, I put it through perhaps only the last two, depending on how dull it is. I find my knives don't need to "go back to the beginning" with the hones, your experiences may vary.

I also put a 15 degree on a lot of my knives but the 17 on the Lansky hasn't caused problems... but that's just me and I don't want to give advice that may cause your knives to turn out differently than you'd prefer.

If I may, I'd humbly suggest purchasing a set of degree wedge stones from craftsman and services provider Fred Rowe, here on Bladeforums. I use them to help my freehand sharpening and I'm not sure they could be used with a Lansky system, but they've been a great help for maintaining a constant angle freehand, for sure.
 
I decided to practice on some older knives and found an oddity...the one i got is a little different than the one ive seen as it has a rubber padding on the knife clip in lieu of the tape necessity, also it has two red thumb screws instead of the one red and the normal screw, but on the 20 and 17 degree options it doesnt reach the blade...it just grinds against screw or the clamp???
 
Yours sounds like the same as mine, but I haven't noticed any problems like just grinding against the screw or clamp.... can you post any pics soon? Mine has the two red ones but it clamps down on the knife blade normally when tightened.
 
I figured it out, I wasnt creating a large enough gap with the back screw (i actually removed it completely thinking it was just extra) also the directions said to replace the red screw with the flat head screw when using the 17 degree option. Didnt even see that bad boy in there.
 
Be careful how much you tighten the rear screw. You can bend the top part of the clamp just by handtightening too tight and it will make you're bevel un even. It's flawed. Doesnt get tight enough to hold a lot of knives and bends when you tighten it. Clamp should be made of steel, not alluminum. Jaws and system should be designed to hold smaller blades where screws occlude the rods. It works and I get mirror polish with it but you're better off getting a KME if you want a clamp system. They had some of the same issues but have addressed them. Check your clamps together to see if they are bent. I'm on my second clamp and I just got it.
 
smo1898 said:
...My edc has a 15 degree edge on it, while the lowest "setting" on the lansky is 17. The blade is still shaving sharp but i want to polish it up with this, as it still has the factory machine markings, would a full re profile be necessary to do this?
Also, (basically the same question) once my blade is in need of a full sharpening should I go through the whole stone system to re profile or will starting with a medium stone and working my way up be suffice
Click to expand...

Are the "factory machine markings" on just the edge-bevel? If you want them gone, you must match the angle of the bevel when grinding so as to polish down the scratches, otherwise grind at a steeper angle so as to cut a new bevel altogether. If the lansky cannot accommodate the factory angle, you could simply polish the bevel free-hand, e.g. strop with wet/dry sandpaper on a hard backing. If you aren't very good at matching the angle free-hand, hold the hone and the blade close to see the contact being made - I hold the blade edge-upward and just run the hone along the edge rather than setting the hone down and grinding the blade into it. Or if you strop on a softer backing and grind the edge-shoulders down a bit (usually a good idea), the bevel will blend back convex and holding an exact angle is less important as it is less noticeable in the end.

If you do NOT change the bevel angle from 15-dps, the re-sharpening at 17-dps on the lansky should be a breeze as you'll simply be adding a microbevel to the very apex. Depending on apex degradation, you may be able to use only the finest hone and get the edge you want.

Why do you want to polish the entire edge-bevel when the knife is already shaving-sharp? Just for aesthetics?
 
chiral has the right of it...regarding the micro or secondary bevel going from the factory 15 to Lansky 17.
You may want to spend a few bucks and buy an angle finder tool at Home Depot, etc. They are inexpensive and worth the money if you are into sharpening.
I use one from time to time. Your angle may change a degree or so depending on blade placement in the jaws. I generally set the jaws at the mid point of the knife in both directions. I find it easier this way. I also take a pic of the knife in the jaw the first time I sharpen it so I have that as a reference point for future sharpening sessions to keep the angle consistent.

I always reprofile every knife I get whether it is sharp or not. I prefer my own angles and like to play with the Lansky and the knives.
 
Yeah i was just looking to polish it for the aesthetics, but ill probably just hold off until it needs a full resharpening. The picture idea is great, when i was using it today i was wondering about the angle change due to the knife placement along with the wobbling of the stand i got. I developed a way to hold it to lesson this factor but im guessing it will still disrupt the consistency of the angle. But all in all i really like this thing, cant beat it for the price
 
If you have the small square stand, like I have, I found that screwing it down to a piece of wood worked great. I used an 6x6 inch piece of 3/4 oak, stained, sanded and poly'd makes a great and stable base. I also glued some of that rubbery drawer liner material underneath and it sticks to my coffee table quite nicely.
 
FYI,

The Lansky's '17' setting will produce a 15° angle (per side) if the edge of the blade is positioned approximately 3/8" from the front edge of the clamp's jaws. The marked angle settings on Lansky's clamps are only (close to) accurate as measured at the immediate front edge of the clamp. Since it's physically impossible to access a blade's edge positioned flush to the front edge of the clamp, any blade (literally any blade) will sharpen up at an angle that's somewhat lower than the marked setting used, because the blade's edge must extend far enough beyond the clamp's front edge to reach it with the hones. Wider blades, which position the edge even further out, will sharpen up at even lower angles relative to the marked setting. All this means that the Lansky's 'lowest' possible setting is dependent more on the width and positioning of the blade in the clamp, and less on the marked settings of the clamp's slots. It'll definitely go lower than what's marked on it; in fact, it always will be lower for each given setting.

The only way to KNOW for sure what the actual set angle is with a particular blade in-clamp, is to measure the 'X, Y and hypotenuse' of the right triangle formed by the clamp, rod/hone and blade, and calculate it using trig functions (that's how I figured out the above, with a SAK's main spear blade positioned in my Lansky clamp, with cutting edge ~3/8" in front of the clamp's front edge).


David
 
I got the cheaper plastic one (stupidly) because i didnt add it to my initial amazon order so i had to pay shipping and it was half the price as the square one. I went a little crazy sharpening today with great results, all of them turned out razor sharp. Although I do see the need to work on the blade positioning, I put my bk2 in there which had a factory edge of 20 degrees and despite using the 20 degree position I ended up sort of creating a primary bevel leaving a small secondary bevel that was the initial edge, maybe just a couple degrees less than 20
 
The guide rod shall be attatched from below on the Lansky sharpener - and the guide rod downside shall be in line with the sharpener surface.

1. If the sharpener surface is higher then the downside of the guide rod- you will get a lower angle.
2. If the sharpener surface is lower then the downside of the guide rod - you will get a higher angle.
3. The guide rod are bend in 90 degrees. If you make this bend to 80 - 85 degrees instead - you can sharpen convex edges. It menas that the bend shall be made backwards. Try it!

Thomas
 
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