Gatco Sharpening system?

[Officer Gigglez]

Anyone had experience with one? Curious because my brother recommended one.

[Cheddarnut]

1) I use it exclusively, love it. Added the coarse diamond and ultra fine ceramic, the diamond is a breeze for reprofiling.
I would def recommend it.

2) i feel this thread getting knocked to off topic unless someone compares it to the SM. As i do not have one, alas, i cannot make the comparison.

[kennethsime]

Pretty much the same as the Lansky system.

For me the sharpmaker, and other croc-stick style systems are easier for day-to-day touch ups, and better teach muscle memory and the skills needed for freehand sharpening. Lansky and Gatco are nice if you want to reprofile, but I feel like it's kinda like driving an automative transmission.

[GaTChE]

The Gatco has some issues that lead me to prefer the similar DMT system.

1) With the set I had, I found the angle that the rods protruded from the different stones wasn't always the same, making it impossible to hit the same angle when progressing through stones. It was especially noticeable when switching from diamond to std stones. I played around with bending the rods to make them match, but they would rotate in use making it worse. Maybe someone else has a solution for this, but I haven't come across it yet.
2) the plastic 'wings' that extend lengthwise along the edge of the stone catch on the handle of thicker handled knives and don' let you sharpen the very heel end of the blade - though you can trim them off with a little effort.
3) the clamp interferes with the stone at low angles. This one wasn't difficult to alleviate by taking a coarse file to the outside edge of the clamp and creating more clearance, and I still use this clamp with the DMT stones & holder because it seems to hold the blade better for me (although the angle markings are pretty useless due tho the different stone/holder geometries).

[Evil D]

Better than a Lansky in 3 ways. 1, it has thicker stronger guide rods that help prevent flexing. When the rods flex even a small amount, it changes the angle that the stones hit at. 2, more angle options. 3, bigger wider stones that cut more efficiently. Other than that it still suffers from the same issues as every other clamp system out there but if you don't wanna take the plunge for an Edge Pro and don't wanna try the Sharpmaker, it's one of the better alternatives.

[nccole]

I use the GATCO and SM. GATCO for re-profiling, and the SM for micro-beveling and touch ups. I had the GATCO for quite a while by itself, and got tired of clamping up a knife just to touch up the edge. I bought the SM and love that. I would like to grab an Edge Pro for my re-profiling chores, but the GATCO is decent and serviceable. I did a lot of research when I originally bought it, and it seemed like the best guided rod system at the time. If I were going to be buying a guided rod type setup now, I would grab the KME system. It doesn't have as much discussion and pros and cons laid out, but it appears to be an upgrade to the Lansky and GATCO.

[sal]

The original system was invented by Mr. Ray Longbrake back in the late 70's. Called the "Loray" sharpener. Arthur Levine was a distributor of Loray's. Ray and Aruthur had a falling out and Arthur tooled up and created the "Lansky" version. John Anthon was the Sales manager for Lansky. John and Arthur had a falling out and john created GATCO and tooled up his version. DMT also made a version as did others. Just some history.

sal

[Evil D]

The original system was invented by Mr. Ray Longbrake back in the late 70's. Called the "Loray" sharpener. Arthur Levine was a distributor of Loray's. Ray and Aruthur had a falling out and Arthur tooled up and created the "Lansky" version. John Anthon was the Sales manager for Lansky. John and Arthur had a falling out and john created GATCO and tooled up his version. DMT also made a version as did others. Just some history.

sal

I love when you drop in little nuggets like that for those of us who either weren't around back then or don't know the behind the scenes of the hobby. You should do more of that :D

[WorkingEdge]

I love when you drop in little nuggets like that for those of us who either weren't around back then or don't know the behind the scenes of the hobby. You should do more of that :D

I second that. Learned some history on Damascus in another thread. :)
Also very appreciative of his open candidness regarding the trial and errors of his products and the challenges he faces as a manufacturer. I think that is rare and certainly makes me more a fan.

Back on topic - as the Lansky is similar, it can produce a very nice edge. It was the first "knife sharpener" that worked for me, including reprofiling a recurve. Not sure if the Gatco would have similar issue with dealing with changing angles due to varibility of stone thickness, though.

[Evil D]

I second that. Learned some history on Damascus in another thread. :)
Also very appreciative of his open candidness regarding the trial and errors of his products and the challenges he faces as a manufacturer. I think that is rare and certainly makes me more a fan.

Back on topic - as the Lansky is similar, it can produce a very nice edge. It was the first "knife sharpener" that worked for me, including reprofiling a recurve. Not sure if the Gatco would have similar issue with dealing with changing angles due to varibility of stone thickness, though.

Stone thickness absolutely makes a difference, but there's not much you can do about it aside from lapping all your stones at the same time and measuring thickness and then lapping them all to be the same, which wastes stone material. This is also why diamond stones are the best option for these setups. .

[xceptnl]

I love when you drop in little nuggets like that for those of us who either weren't around back then or don't know the behind the scenes of the hobby. You should do more of that :D

+1 to that. We should have a "Sal's Pearls of Wisdom" sticky thread!

[jmh58]

The original system was invented by Mr. Ray Longbrake back in the late 70's. Called the "Loray" sharpener. Arthur Levine was a distributor of Loray's. Ray and Aruthur had a falling out and Arthur tooled up and created the "Lansky" version. John Anthon was the Sales manager for Lansky. John and Arthur had a falling out and john created GATCO and tooled up his version. DMT also made a version as did others. Just some history.

sal

I have/started out on the Lo-Ray back in 79.. Then to Lansky!! John

[Officer Gigglez]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into one.

[N. Brian Huegel]

The original system was invented by Mr. Ray Longbrake back in the late 70's. Called the "Loray" sharpener. Arthur Levine was a distributor of Loray's. Ray and Aruthur had a falling out and Arthur tooled up and created the "Lansky" version. John Anthon was the Sales manager for Lansky. John and Arthur had a falling out and john created GATCO and tooled up his version. DMT also made a version as did others. Just some history.

sal

The evolution of a sharpening idea through his patents:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=pate ... 733933.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=pate ... 819170.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=pate ... 170343.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=pate ... 320892.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=pate ... 486982.pdf

[sal]

Great stuff Brian. Thanx much.

sal

[SpyderNut]

+1 to that. We should have a "Sal's Pearls of Wisdom" sticky thread!

In all seriousness, that sounds like a great idea!

[dman62]

I have the diamond version and added an ultra fine stone. I use it to reprofile and the initial edge. After that I freehand sharpen everything. Works great.

[jmh58]

Looking at the KME sharpner.. Like the stone choices and the stone holder set up!! John

[elena86]

Looking at the KME sharpner.. Like the stone choices and the stone holder set up!! John

That ^^^^ I have a KME.It works great !

[nccole]

Looking at the KME sharpner.. Like the stone choices and the stone holder set up!! John

For me the greatest advantage it appears to hold over the others is the guide ball for the rods, the fact that the one rod screws into the one stone holder, and the flipping action to do the other side of the knife. I would imagine that the angle consistency is far superior in this model. That along with controlling and lessening my pressure has showed to be the most important aspect in achieving a great edge. I think my next sharpening system (after maybe trying the diamond stones and UF stones for the SM) will be the Edge Pro, so I probably won't ever try the KME system, but had I know about it before I got the GATCO I would have picked up the KME.