Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Recommended starter sharpener/sharpening system??

I have almost every sharpening gidget and gadget made.

The major functional differences in the units I have, unless something has changed, are:

The Lansky has 4 angles, 17 the lowest, while the Gatco has six, 15 the lowest.

The Lansky stones are adjustable on the guide rod, which if you know what you're doing you can adjust for consistent angles as the stones wear.

Of the two I like the Lansky, but the DMT Aligner is superior to both IME... and the Sharpmaker beats them all.

Well, as I posted in a separate thread, I'm getting the Lansky Deluxe Diamond system for Christmas from my fiance's dad. Should be here tomorrow or monday I would imagine. Can't wait to start using it. He gave my fiance the money he wanted to spend, $50, and I found what I wanted. I scored the new, Deluxe Diamond set on eBay for $50 and free shipping!

Add a strop, and you're more than set. Enjoy!

MRK and anyone else who wants to try it.

I have the edgepro apex with a 120, 300 and 600grit stones as well as the 2000grit polishing tapes. I have finished all my sharpening for the year (do all the in-law knives before the holidays so Im not carving turkey with a butter knife) and going back to school has eliminated my time to make knives or generally goof around. I will box it up and ship it out to anyone that wants to try it. Then they can pass it to someone else. If it is on the road for 6 months that wont matter to me.

Shoot me a PM if your interested.

Thanks
The one I am currently "borrowing" from Boise has 5 different grit stones from coarse to 800 grit plus the 2000 grit tape. No matter what, the leather strop is a must for the finish. I think I may buy my own early next year (when I send this one back home).
I did sharpen a couple just holding them against the stop (now that I know it isn't a holder). Everything sharpened up pretty nice, but the chef knife I made went to scary sharp. Didn't last as long as I hoped though. The blade could have been treated a little harder on the Rc.

Tim

I find the edge pro is very consistent and this allows the user to experiment with the best angles for the steel and application it is used for. I play with the 2000 grits for fun but after a few slices most steels are right where they would be if you finished with the 600 stone anyway. I have found S30V and S90V to benifit from going to the 2000 grit but even good steel like D2 or 154CM really does not benifit.

The biggest thing I am guilty of is going to steep on the angles. My wife thinks every knife in the kitchen is great for chopping frozen stuff and using a compound angle of 15 for the primary and 18 degrees for the finish edge leaves chips in most steels when she is done. Going to 21 for primary and 18 for a final edge leaves something pretty durable and I can make a pass or two on a monthly basis and keep everything nice.

For someone who understands a knife is for cutting you can thin up the edges really nice and make even a medium steel like AUS 6 or AUS 8 perform well until the edge simply wears out. I will take a consistent, well sharpened knife of poor quailty steel over a great steel with various angles all over the blade from someone hand sharpening it. And that last is not a knock on anyone who hand sharpens. I spent my entire life watching my Dad sharpen about any thing with an edge to hair popping sharpness and thought everyone could do it. Then I tried and despite years of trying I have admitted defeat and understand it was not an inheirited trait.

And back to the original poster I prefer the wider stones on the Gatco.

I've had a Lansky for almost 30 years and felt that it was a good sharpener until I got an EdgePro Apex. It works so well that you can sharpen all of your buddys' knives before hunting season with just a couple of hours work. You buddys' wives will want you to come over just to sharpen their knives too.

For the $$, the Lansky system is a good product, but it isn't in the same zip code in terms of value or usefulness as the EdgePro.

Jeff

I got my Gatco kit and ultra fine hones. It is just like the Lansky but everything is bigger and better. The stones are nearly twice as thick and 1" longer. The clamp is thicker with 6 angle adjustments as opposed to the 4 of the Lansky. The guide rods are built in and are capable of sliding in and out instead of being attached with a screw. This saves time on setup but doesn't really offer any advantage that I can see. The basic 3 stone kit appears to use the same box as their 5 stone kit so I was able to store the two finer stones I bought with the rest of the kit which is nice.

I like it. Reprofiling an edge goes a lot quicker. I see no difference in sharpness between the two systems. The Gatco just gets you there a heck of a lot faster. It is definitely worth the extra I paid for it over the Lansky. Probably not worth upgrading from a Lansky like I did unless you just want something new or you need to be quicker at it. My Lansky was a gift so I didn't mind spending the money on something better.