Lansky - What am I doing wrong?

[DBCajun]

I broke out an old Lansky system that an older gentleman gave me years ago. I never used it. I decided to give it a try and watched a bunch of videos of people doing it correctly, and apparently incorrectly based on comments. So I felt like I had a good idea of what to do. My test knife was an Old Hickory boning knife. I set the blade sticking out the correct amount, lined everything up, rods even with stone, etc, and started sharpening. My system is the 5-stone version. I went through all five stones, using a little oil on each and wiping clean after each side (No oil on finest stone). I used light to medium pressure, and went in only one direction per Lansky. When I was done, the knife was no sharper. No hair would shave at all. So here’s a question - do I have to continue on one side until I feel an obvious bur along the length of the knife before moving to the other side? I couldn’t really feel definite burs. Maybe I didn’t make enough passes? I know it’s tough to tell me exactly what I did wrong, but if y’all have some Lansky insights they’d be much appreciated. I’m not going to put my Slyderco or expensive knives on the Lansky until I figure it out.

I don’t really want to drop $250 on these Edge Pros I hear about, maybe eventually. I might get a Sharpmaker. I did find a “Crock Stick” sharpener in my sharpening box. It’s like a Sharpmaker and has ceramic rods. I think it was my Dad’s. I ran the Dfly Salt on it a few passes and it definitely worked. Maybe that’s the style sharpener I need to start with.

Anyway, appreciate any sharpening insights y’all may have! Thanks!

[Naperville]

Your best bet is to go to YouTube and look for "Cedric and Ada" knife sharpening videos. Pete uses every kind of system to sharpen knives and I am sure he has a video on that product.

[DBCajun]

Thanks, Naperville. I’ll check ‘em out.

[sal]

Hi DBcajun,

I would suggest you get a magnifying loupe about 10X - 12X so you can clearly see what's going on with the edge, regardless of what sharpening method you use.

sal

[Stuart Ackerman]

What Sal says...

What might help is to put a black marker pen mark on the edge as it exists.
When you remove metal, the black marker worn away will tell you where the steel is removed.

[DBCajun]

Hi Sal! Will do. That’ll make it much easier. Will also try the marker, Stuart.

[Bolster]

I used Lansky systems for years, and they work well (though their diamond stones go smooth very quickly). I'm going to guess your hunch is correct...you probably haven't sharpened all the way to the apex yet. The loupe and the marker pen will verify that. Yes, when you've gone far enough on one side with your coarse stone you can (almost always) feel a burr going to the opposite side.

[cycleguy]

With my clamp knife sharpening system I burr the edge to one side (use my fingernail to feel the burr, it will catch slightly. You will develop a better feel for it the more you do it. Also, use light reflecting off the edge to see if the edge is uniform). Then, work the burr side to create a burr on the other side. Drop down in grit and repeat. If you don’t do the burr all the way down the edge, the nick of a spot you miss will be felt/hang when slicing paper to test for sharpness. Less expensive knife and softer steel is a good place to start.

[RustyIron]

I don’t really want to drop $250 on these Edge Pros I hear about I might get a Sharpmaker.
I did find a “Crock Stick” sharpener in my sharpening box.

Neat. I bought a "Crock Stick" sharpener in the early 80's. It preceded the Sharpmaker, but Sal and Gail improved upon the idea. I still have two Crock Stick rods sitting right here in front of me.

My favorite sharpening tool is the Edge Pro... but not the $250 model. The "Pro" model will set you back even more. When I bought it, I was unsure about throwing down that kind of cash, but was going on the advice of someone smarter than me. I'm glad I listened.

[jasonstone20]

DBCajun,
Make sure you use the coarsest stone for most of the work, ie use the coarse stone for most of the time you are sharpening, everything else is just refining the edge and minimizing the burr. Like Sal said, get a loupe, 10x should be enough to see what is going on. Like others said, maybe also try using a Sharpie marker to see where the stone is hitting. Gough Knives has an excellent video on how to use the Lansky, it is probably 10 year old by now but it is a good one.

[DBCajun]

Great advice, everyone. Much appreciated. I’ll give it another shot!

[sal]

Hi Jason,

Got my mail. Thanx much.

sal

[jasonstone20]

sal,
Awesome, sorry it took so long.

[PaloArt]

Exactly what others have stated already:

Find some good video on this topic.

Cedric and Ada - https://youtu.be/3M5ubJ8h2cQ


1. Mark your edge with sharpie or any other permanent marker and have some kind of loupe at hand (I use Victorinox with Loupe sufficiently)
2. protect rest of the blade with some kind of masking tape to avoid dust from sharpening to scratch your knife
3. Clamp your knife in the middle section of blade (tip and heel of edge should be approximately same width apart from the clamp)
4. make sure you have correct angle - use higher grit stone to see where the marker is removed, use leading strokes with pressure of the stone only - if you are removing marker on the whole bevel (sharpened portion of blade) you are good to go. If you are just removing marker on the upper portion of the edge bevel and not hitting actual edge, you will spot marker being still on actual Apex - then you need to increase the angle, otherwise you would be reprofiling perhaps unnecessarily and for now it would not help much, you can lower angle and reprofile later on when you get the hang of it.
5. change the grit to the coarser - if blade is not chipped or heavily damaged don`t go for the most coarse stone. Start sharpening without too much pressure and let the grit do it`s job.
6. Don`t count strokes now but check for the burr on the other side of edge (you will find videos on that as well). After burr is identified, flip your knife and start working on the other side of edge under the same angle until you flip the burr to the other side.
7. Now remove the burr on the same grit you are using with gentle strokes flipping sides of the blade - usually 5-10 strokes do the job and you will feel\see when the burr is removed - very straight line of removed steel, like draw with pencil will appear on the stone. Other way how to remove burr (not sure if good idea for all steels) is to use wooden cutting board or piece of wood you cut into from heel to the tip.
8. Change the girt and repeat the process - mark your blade, sharpen until burr forms, remove the burr... Knife should be shaving sharp quite soon.

Lansky regular stones are not so quick in material removal as Diamonds or CBN, be patient. Some steels would be hard to sharpen with regular stones, I would recommend to get some diamond stones for Lansky or purchase some other system - WS precision adjust (basic one is enough for beginner), Spyderco Sharpmaker (my favorite with additional diamond stones) or try to learn sharpening on the stone and purchase some diamond benchstone (doesn`t need to be something super expensive in the beginning).

Issue might be as well with the knife itself, try some cheaper smaller kitchen knife at home.

Not 100% sure if what I wrote makes sense, but someone more proficient in English language might help better or correct some of my points above.