Lansky Kits
 

Leaving first of the week for Texas at the first of the week for some hog killing. After a close inspection on my knives I have come to find that I'm just getting too damn old to free hand stone sharpen knives to a fine and CONSISTENT edge like I used to. So, I did a little research and found that the Lansky Diamond kit has gotten extremely good reviews from many in the knife professions. Ordered me one of these kits https://www.amazon.com/Lansky-4-Ston.../dp/B01N2U46YD and an extra fine hone as well (couldn't find one in stock that had the extra fine hone in it)/ Also ordered the little C-Clamp thingamajig to hold the knife clamp. Kit came this morning.

Just did my old Solingen bladed Jack knife as that is absolutely the HARDEST knife I have in my collection to sharpen properly though when done properly it holds that hard to get edge like a champ! I have to say, the reviews were spot on! This little jig really does deliver a perfect edge angle and consistency that can't be matched free handed. It has 4 angles that you can put on a blade from a sharply angled 17 degree for a weak but deadly sharp edge like you would put on a razor to a 30 degree still wicked sharp but strong working edge for cutting stuff like carpet or cardboard all day.

For this particular knife, I chose a 20 degree angle. Completely redid the edge angle that I had by starting off with the coarse and basically regrinding a new edge. Took a bit of time and a bit of getting used to it but once all was done, this knife will shave a frog! The next knife will be one of my Buck folders with the same degree. Then on to one of my Chefs knives that I will put on a 25 degree. Then on to a couple of filet knives with a 17 degree super sharp.

All in all it seems this was a sound investment with all the knife work I do throughout the year. Little on the expensive side for the diamond stones but if the regular Arkansas stone kits sharpen as well as these (and the reviews say they do) and you don't do a ton of knives throughout the year like I do, you can get away with around half the cost by going with them. The diamond stones last MUCH MUCH longer but again, if you don't do a ton of knives, you will be just fine with the regular stone version like this https://www.amazon.com/Lansky-Deluxe.../dp/B01MR6GZWR

I have a few friends who had the same experience with them. Having a consistent angle on both sides is indeed hard to accomplish without the aid of a clamp. Some people just have a knack with putting a perfect edge on a knife. I am not one of them but I manage to do an adequate job. Perhaps based on your report I'll get a Lansky kit.

One of the few things my Dad taught me rather than my Great Gramps was putting an edge on a knife. Gramps was good. Paps was better. I guess they both taught me. But I just don't seem to be able to hold the knife properly anymore for free handing. I can still do a passable job to most, but passable just aint in my vocabulary when it comes to my firearms or my knives. Wife drives me bonkers. What she calls sharp is what I call dull as a damn hammer. She can't seem to figure out that if she doesn't let me know one of her kitchen knives is dull, it just makes twice the work for me to bring it back to a good edge to where the knife is doing the work, not YOU. That is how people get fingers cut off.

CI, with all the fishing you do, I would imagine you go through way more than your fair share of filet knife edges. After I do one of mine I'll let you know how well it works on a thin bladed filet knife. Going to tackle those tomorrow. You would probably be best served with a diamond set like mine since I'm sure you probably go through them like hot cakes.

I have several fillet knives of all lengths and find that as long as I keep them from getting too dull and go slow and not roll an edge I can keep them sharp enough using a ceramic sharpener similar to a steel. These days most of the fish I catch go to a fish buyer whole.

My last trip to Canada I did a LOT of Lake Trout fishing. Dulled 4 filet knives. They were hitting spoons like wildfire. Them and wild Salmon is about all the fresh water fishing I do anymore. Still like to hit the deeps for Tuna or the Atlantic for Flounder (sashimi right there on the boat,, YUM!) on occasion but my passions still lay in the land.

Got a lot of lakers and salmon right out front of the house. I rarely fish for them anymore though. I never fished for them in Canada which is odd since I live so close but plan on going out in Alaska when I visit this next fall. We are looking to get out a day or two for salmon or halibut in addition to seeing the sights.

I've had a Lansky for years. Mine has 6 hones from extra course to extra fine and a ceramic hone for serrated blades. It works well and keeps my knives field ready year round.

My wife is spoiled plum rotten when it comes to knives....She brings me knives that still shave "I need this sharpened"

I love the lansky. I don't get mine out to often but when it do its a game changer as far as changing profiling or bringing a knife back to a good edge.

I do a lot of convex edges but the lansky is even very useful for that as its much easier once I use the lansky first.

I use a wood block with a strips of leather glued to it with various compounds 90% of the time but when I need the lansky it is great for what I need it to do.

I have a barbers strop (wow did I just date myself again!) that I use quite often in my "meat shed" and for finishing a blade. It is getting pretty worn down though. Rock, how well do you think a piece of tanned deer hide would work on a board? I don't have any scrap leather (cow) heavy enough to do the job.

Do some working out if you plan on Halibut. It's a boring fight, Boring but ROUGH generally, but basically they are just one big fin and USUALLY found very deep. Do a lot of curls and shoulder lifts.

Yeah I know all about pulling that kind of weight off a 200 to 400 foot bottom. I have done a fair share of ocean fishing for fish like grouper in Florida and ground fish commonly caught off the North Atlantic coast and yes it always makes your arms and back ache. Had a good trip 1 1/2 year ago on a pollock slam. It was 2 at a time in 180 ft and they averaged 10 pounds and ran up to 30 some odd.
Getting 2 jumbos on at once gave the kind of fight you are talking about. We did catch a few Atlantic Halibut but the biggest was 90 pounds. I brought home 200 pounds of fillets from that trip. Still eating it.

Sharpening knives
 

Well it's always good to review the old way you do things. I find things are alright in the sharpening department. But then it became a hobby and you know hobbies.
Of course, you get solidified. I'm still doing it the old way with Arkansas stone. Got a great kit of tri-hones and the price was reduced as the supplier had an enormous case of over buying.

Got them over twenty years ago for the steal of some eight dollars, which got gobbled up by a good buy and inflation. Reviews now get hardened by inflation, it seems. Hard to fight off a price of eight dollars against a new one of some 70 dollars. Reminds me of a good buy I got twenty years ago.

I've got many Ark stones Valentine. And a few tri kits of both Ark and Diam. The problem I was having was holding a consistent angle anymore. Just can't do it as well as I used to. Makes for a wavy edge and not a very stable one.

CI, I'm running into some difficulty with my longer Filet and Chefs knives. They keep moving in the clamp. I can hold the handle when doing one side but when I flip it I either have to switch to left handed to do the stone and hold the handle or it moves in the clamp. And yeah it's tight! Just can't seem to get it tight enough to hold the blade stable. When I get out closer to the tip it pushes the blade. Maybe Flags or Rock will chime in with a solution to this little problem with a solve? Any tighter and I'll break the tension screw!

Deer should work fine on a board with a compound. Probably won't work very good as a straight leather strop though.

I think you would be happy with a couple pieces of deer hide on each side of a block with a green compound on one side and white on the other. Maybe keep an eye out for a good piece of cow leather for a straight leather finish if you want to go that far but you will probably be plenty good with just the deer and compound. That should get your knives to the next level after the lansky and make them stay sharp a little longer.

I try to keep mine sharp enough that the strop brings them back pretty easily.

Here is one ive been working on......camera flash sucks but you can see its taking a pretty good polish.


Edit: Sorry I just read your last post. Its pretty much a pain with longer knives or even more so with knives that taper and the clamp only tightens at the fatter side of the taper. Try this


Alright, don't make fun of me but i'm gonna tell you about something else I use quite a little bit.

Its this


I know how to sharpen knives the old fashion way about as well as anybody but the bottom line is I don't have time to do that all the time. That little thing WILL make your knife very sharp very quickly,it cost about $5, it will fit in your pocket, and your wife can sharpen a knife with it as well. The edge sucks...its coarse but it is very sharp. I don't have time to sit down and sharpen a knife "the right way" after fish #50 with 50 more left on the table. It ain't perfect but if you want a sharp knife and want it sharp right now this thing WILL make that happen.

I also use it much like I use the lansky, If a knife has lost its edge I'll use that little thing to put a sharp wire edge on then I use the leather/compound and turn the wire edge into a razor edge.