Which one for me... Lansky or Gatco?

I have a Lansky, a SharpMaker, and an EdgePro Apex. I never use the Lansky cuz I personnaly found it to be too tedious. I use the SharpMaker on the kitchen knives because it is super fast and works great on my Henckels. I use the EdgePro on my pocket knives to get bragging edges (flat bevels with a mirror finish to 6,000 grit plus hand stropping on CrO loaded paper on glass).

If I had to get rid of all but one, I'd keep the SharpMaker (and a coarse bench stone).
 
I've used the Lansky and the Gatco systems for a long time. I prefer the Lansky's results, but my hand cramps after long usage. The stones are small. I use their diamond stone only for the coarsest grade to cut the angle from scratch. After that, their regular stones work well. I do use their bench mount, though. It's not expensive, and it helps the hand cramps.

I used to own an electric motor repair facility. We used knives for a lot of different things, and we were hard on them. I kept a Chef's Choice Model 120 in the shop. It's electric, and it really takes the time out of sharpening. It's a three stage model. Most of the time we used the third (honing) stage. When that wouldn't get the results we wanted, we would drop down to the middle level. We rarely used the coarsest level - it can really take the meat off the blade. It was just used to reestablish the angle in the worst cases. If we kept the knives sharp with the hone, the edge lasted a long time. This model is expensive, but for the daily sharpening we required, it was worth every penny.
 
fordf250 said:
If I balance all your input I start to see the Gatco as the choice. I'm really puzzled by the Sharpmaker. Some love it while others think it's not that great.

I have to admit my dumbness as I have only seen a picture of all these devices. The Lansky/Gatco are easy to figure out how they work, but I don't have any idea how the Sharpmaker actually performs.

I like the idea of a diamond hone vs. anything else I am worried they may be to aggressive. I think my own experience will answer this question. I was also encouraged by j22KNIFE when he said the Gatco (or Lansky) requires NO SKILL AT ALL.

Just checked out Edge Pro as suggested. Looks like nice stuff, but a little expensive. The price doesn't kill it for me, but I would really like to know it was the holy grail of sharpeners if I was to buy one.

Does anyone know more intimate details of the Edge Pro product line?

Thanks again...
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I have the DMT Aligner, Lansky, and a Sharpmaker. I used to use the DMT and the Lansky (I prefered the DMT), but since I got my Sharpmaker, I don't use the other systems anymore. Both the Sharpmaker and the Lansky/DMT/Gatco require knowledge of what you are doing and a little skill. I have had beginners try to use my lansky with my instruction, and they still manage to mess the blade up (when I leave them alone with it). On the clamp type systems, set-up is where the knowledge comes into play, you have to know what angle to use, where to position the clamp so you are hitting the edge and only the edge, and count the number of strokes on each side (can get tedious after a while). On the Sharpmaker, you have to make sure that one of the two angles will work for your knife(you may have to reprofile before it will hit the edge), and you have to keep the blade upright and straight while you sharpen. It may sound complicated, and it is at first, but with practice it isn't very hard to use either system. I use a course SiC stone (can be found at any hardware store for around $7) and the Sharpmaker for almost everything, it is the most versatile, fast, and easy way to sharpen IMO. If you want the sharpest edge possible, you may want to get the EdgePro, it is kind of expensive though and it takes a little more knowledge of edge geometry to use, but it gives results like nothing else can. I hope I helped a little.
 
Knife people have a very generous side and freely give their experience to help others. I thank you all.

For my situation and various types of knives (and those of family & friends) I need to choose between (1) The Lansky/Gatco and Sharpmaker combo or an Edge Pro. As the combo is priced in the range of the Edge Pro alone I think the $$$ side of things is a wash. How will I choose?

I have made an appointment to visit the Edge Pro factory next week (June 5th). They are about an hour or hour and a half from me so I have a demo scheduled there with Ben. I'm excited to see this baby in action and will bring a bunch of knives with me. I am also armed with your observations of the keys to success with all these systems. In particular I will spend a lot of time looking at the geometry of the edge set-up on Edge Pro. That appears to be the key to a successful edge on their system. This may be difficult for me as the only geometry I have used in many years is to cut the hot apple pie into 8 equal pieces on Thanksgiving day.


A few light strokes on a ceramic hone seems to be the universal finish when sharpening a knife. Edge Pro recommends a stand along hone as many do. I find it hard to ignore all the champions of Sharpmaker. It may be that one of these comes into play down the road. Be it a final hone for sharpness or touch up of EDC we'll have to see. Perhaps one of the disgruntled Sharpmaker owners out there wants to sell their old one to me ? ? ? ?

So, if anyone has additional observations, comments or things I should look at while at the demo of the Edge Pro please let me know.

I'll let you all know how it comes out after I return. Thanks again...
 
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