Thread: Knife sharpening kit

I want to buy a kit to sharpen my fishing knives. Could you help me choose one?

Al raz.

If you have razor hones, go ahead and use them, if not I am sure any good arkansas stone would do just fine.

Use the same stones as you do for your razors.

Just lap them before using them for your razors after using them for your knives. I would stop at the 4000 grit level, that's usually plenty sharp enough for a fillet knife. I usually sharpen at a twenty degree angle to the hone.

I forgot to say that I do not own any razor hone yet. I am not sure if this is completely right but the kits that I have seen use a 4k as their ultra fine stone.

Al raz.

That should do it.

I think that the Lansky deluxe of the DMT could be good. I like the idea of having the guides. Does anybody have experience with either of these?

Al raz.

The Lansky will work..... slooooowly. The hones are too small, you have to keep shifting the clamp along the blade on longer knives like a filleting knife and in the end the whole kit will end up sitting in a drawer somewhere, I'm not even sure what drawer mine is in anymore.

For doing kitchen knives, filleting knives and the like and you feel the need for guidance to keep the angles right, I'd suggest getting a Spyderco Sharpmaker.

For grossly abused knives, it would take a while to get the edge back with the medium hones but it works and for regular touchups, it's compact, doesn't need honing oil or water, packs up into a compact kit and works waaay faster than the Lansky. They do have a set of diamond coated sticks for taking care of heavy reshaping or sharpening of those abused knives though and if you get the optional Ultra Fine sticks, you'd have a complete set of extra narrow hones you could even use for your razors if you wished.

Regards

Christian

I have owned a Lansky Sharpening Kit for around twenty years (well over fifteen.) They do not sit in a drawer, I know exactly where they are. I use them often and I have had to replace several of the stones. I literally wore them out.
I sharpened knives for many years, using only a soft Arkansas and a hard Arkansas. They worked fine. One day a buddy asked me to try his Lansky Kit and I fell in love.
Yes, you will have to move the clamp on a long blade, but the Lansky outfit is almost foolproof. I don't have any of the Lansky Diamond Stones, just the regular 'natural' stones and they work just fine. I won't use anything else.
In fact, I intend to use the Kit a little later, to sharpen a new Case.
Here's a link to an online shop I have done business with. They are great to deal with.
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I never said the Lansky wouldn't work, just that they take forever if you need to do more than a light touch up. I do own a Lansky but mine IS lost in some drawer as I got fed up with how long it takes. Today I rarely spend more than 90 seconds on a very badly dulled/abused 8" chefs knife but I'd never recommend the tools I use for the average person, it's just not cost effective. The crock stick style sharpener, and in particular the Spyderco, works really well, is easy to use by just about anyone with little practice and keeps the sharp edges away from the fingers when being used. I seriously doubt my wife would bother fooling around with the Lansky I have, but she has no problems producing a quick/sharp edge on the kitchen knives with a crock stick sharpener in about 30 seconds including the time it takes to get it out of the cupboard (mine is not a Spyderco, it's one I made in the shop but they work the same).

If someone does want the Lansky style of sharpener, I would recommend looking at the Gatco version, just for it's larger hones that give the fingers a bit more protection in use and the longer hones should get the job done a little faster though I've never actually used one of their kits.

Regards

Christian

Well, if you already own some stones and don't want to go freehand, there something like this for 12.80 $ CAD at Lee Valley.

McKie