Lansky sharpening kits

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Peanut

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I bought a Lansky 3 stone kit in 1985, great kit, no problems. My nephew wanted my old kit so I gave it to him and bought a new Lansky kit. The clamp in the new kit won't hold a blade steady for sharpening in a safe manner.

Last night I pulled the kit out to sharpen all my blades. I put a shaving edge on 3 of my knives, one being a Buck 112. That said, I'm completely disgusted with the performance of the new clamp.

Anyone else hear or know about issues with the new lansky clamps.

Landky (1) sm.JPG
 
I can comment on"new" since I only have my original.

20201027_123745.jpg


It still works great. The label indicates 35 years if that helps date it.

But recently I wanted to add the ability to do chisels and other edges. So I purchased a"Ruixin Pro"
.

20201027_123805.jpg



Added additional stones and I am very happy with results. I sharpened an old beat up machete For a friend and he reported he could take off tree limbs with a single swipe.

The additional stones gives me 10 grits from 80 to 2000.

I don't know if this reply helps you at all but when I read the title I could not resist the temptation to talk sharpening.

Ben
 
I bought a Lansky 3 stone kit in 1985, great kit, no problems. My nephew wanted my old kit so I gave it to him and bought a new Lansky kit. The clamp in the new kit won't hold a blade steady for sharpening in a safe manner.

Last night I pulled the kit out to sharpen all my blades. I put a shaving edge on 3 of my knives, one being a Buck 112. That said, I'm completely disgusted with the performance of the new clamp.

Anyone else hear or know about issues with the new lansky clamps.

View attachment 52480
I did the same foolish thing.
Gave my original one away and bought a new one. The new one is nowhere close to the quality and the clamp sucks.
 
I did the same foolish thing.
Gave my original one away and bought a new one. The new one is nowhere close to the quality and the clamp sucks.
I can not tell the difference between my kit and the image Peanut posted.

Do I have the "new" version that s#cks?

Curious,

Ben
 
The paperwork that came with mine did include a WWW web-site so it most likely is NOT 30 years old.

Ben
 
I can not tell the difference between my kit and the image Peanut posted.

Do I have the "new" version that s#cks?

Curious,

Ben
You have the new version.
I'm going to try talking my son into trading me. He has my old one but never uses it. He has one of those Chef Choice electric grinders that destroy knives.
 
I have one.
 
I can not tell the difference between my kit and the image Peanut posted.
Do I have the "new" version that s#cks?
Curious,
Ben

Yep, Backlash called it. The old style clamp has a plain metal "spade type thumb screw" to tighten the clamp.

The new style clamp has the red plastic thumb screw to tighten it.

I went to the lansky website and complained, not that it'll do any good. They do have a two different clamps available now.

They have the type that came with my kit and Ben's, with a single red thumb screw.

The other style clamp has 2 red thumb screws used to tighten it.

The reason the one I got is crappy... The inside edges of the clamp where it grips the knife has a tiny slot between the clamp faces. Half of this slot is cut into one clamp face, the other half in the other clamp face. This tiny grove is supposed to grip and hold the blade but it's less than 1/8th inches deep. It's far to shallow to grip the knife effectively. Especially when the blade gets slick with oil.

The other style clamp they now have... this tiny slot is about 3/8th of an inch in depth. It should conceivably work better.

I'm going to wait for a response from Lansky, see if I get a straight answer.
 
Here are photos of the inadequate slot that I mentioned in the my last post. It is at the pointy end of the clamp. It simply isn't cut far enough towards the opposite end of the clamp to hold a blade.

Lansky 02 (2) sm.JPG
Lansky 02 (4) sm.JPG
 
Here are photos of the inadequate slot that I mentioned in the my last post. It is at the pointy end of the clamp. It simply isn't cut far enough towards the opposite end of the clamp to hold a blade.

View attachment 52512View attachment 52513
The instructions say that groove is for small blades.

I have never used that groove for normal blades.





20201028_124057.jpg


My kit came with optional thumb screw

20201028_124108.jpg


It can be used instead if the red thumb screw.

20201028_124209.jpg


Ben
 
Thanks @Neb Mine didn't come with an instruction booklet or optional thumb screw.

I dispise that little grove. When not using it that means the last 1/8th inch of the clamp isn't being used. That makes a blade a little unstable. The clamp would work much better without the grove.

This is one of those cases where "new and improved" screwed up something that worked perfectly fine the way it was.

I've thought about filling that little grove with JBweld or similar than grinding it down so the clamp surface is smooth all the way to tip.
 
I have diamond stones, hard Arkansas stones, beaded glass stones and ceramic rods. I use the rods most of the time very close to using a steel but without the curled edge. The ceramic actually removes metal instead of burnishing it.
 
I have a Work Sharp and it does a good job. The problem is you can destroy a knife with it. The first time I used it I rounded the tip on a Buck folding pocket knife. I was flicking my wrist at the end of the stroke and that was a bad thing to do. It also shortened the blade which makes the end stick above the handle and you can poke a hole in your pocket or your finger so that knife went in my box of knives.
I have just about every knife sharpener made but I use my Work Sharp the most. We have an 8" Chicago Cutlery butcher knife that will not hold an edge so I use the WS with a courser belt then go to a fine belt. My Lansky rarely gets used. I use ceramic rods the most.
 
I have a Work Sharp and it does a good job. The problem is you can destroy a knife with it. The first time I used it I rounded the tip on a Buck folding pocket knife. I was flicking my wrist at the end of the stroke and that was a bad thing to do. It also shortened the blade which makes the end stick above the handle and you can poke a hole in your pocket or your finger so that knife went in my box of knives.
I have just about every knife sharpener made but I use my Work Sharp the most. We have an 8" Chicago Cutlery butcher knife that will not hold an edge so I use the WS with a courser belt then go to a fine belt. My Lansky rarely gets used. I use ceramic rods the most.
There is more than one type of Work Sharp systems.

You mentioned a belt while the one I have been looking at uses disks.

Ben
 
The one I have uses the disks also but it has a knife sharpening attachment. They are an add on.
WS3000BSS1.jpg
Very nice!

If I had one of those my manual stuff would gather dust on the shelf.

Ben
 
Work sharp's are also great for sharpening axes, hoes, and shovels. Have you ever sharpened your shovel? I never had before the work sharp. It's amazing how much easier digging gets when you sharpen the shovel...
 
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