Pros: Effectiveness, Ease of Use
Cons: Durability, Overall Quality
Do not reccomend lansky systems
Hello, i have been doing freehand sharpening for over 14 years now. Ive been whittling hairs for most of that time and ive sharpened almost every common steel and most of the uncommon ones like 10V. S110V, to Aus, all of them. I began with DMT diafolds. A couple years ago i got the worksharp field sharpener, and it is a portable one tool does everything that i like to use on the go. So then i wanted to try different abrasives. Whats an arkansas stone like? SIC, ceramic, alox, ect. So my wonderful wife got me all of the lansky kits for christmas. Diamond, ceramic, natural, arknsas, round, and serrated. Three strops with three diamond pastes too. Having an even edge is very important for testing knife performance, and it is cosmetically appealing and theraputic. Ocd kicks in bad. So i have noticed that the idea of the lansky is great. It will really help you if you mentally know how but cant product results with your hands. Here are some issues i have with the system. No this isnt a one star review because of the poor shipping or wrong item or wrong color or its not my birthday or whatever crybaby garbage people review the product as being bad. Deal breaker- The clamps arent the same. All those kits mentioned above, will all produce different angles on the same spot on the knife with the same stone. Even less or more torque on the screw and trying to turn the edge up or down. I cant match them at all. The qc and casting then has proven to be not consistent to some degree. Deal breaker- the rods can bend when you pull them out of the box. Thats just poor design. I had to cut them out. Iffy annoying babysitting thing ninber one- its very easy to slip off the stone when working the tip and stab yourself or worse the side of the stone and ruin it. Also trying to get the most out of the real estate will result in a slip off the back and slice your fine stone and grind your perfect edge off. What did i do? I glued popsicle sticks to the metal of the diamond stones. I shouldnt have to but it helps. Other annoying thing- you need to runner cement the clamps to avoid scratching. It was clean. Not a coated blade. Aluminum is super soft but it somehow scratches knives. Use tape. Other annoying thing number two- you should oil the rod and it will eventually rub away your favorite spot on the clamp. Unique problem to lansky diamonds only- they are so big and coarse hey are smooth and down really cut very well. For reprofiling knives they will chip the edge on the lowest angle. The orange does not. The other non diamond stones do not. Other diamond stones dont have this problem. They all bite deep and cut aggressively at all grits. Oh and by the way the diamonds are disposeable. Maybe ten knives and the metal shows through. I sharpend and notched tally marks in my dmt diafolds and got about 150 knives per year getting a new set every christmas or birhday for a decade that was my average. And they all lasted a year. Its not even march and these are dead. And i dont sharpen much anymore. Annoying product should be fixed complaint number c- the box. So hard to open and close. Ive dealt with thai and chinese and pakistani manufacturing of containers. These are the worst. Warped. Wrong size. Here is the thing. My other three apprentices have all said the same thing. I still use this system. Because the edge is pretty and sharp when im done. Usually. Its not a hateful rant. Just be aware of these things. Now that ive gotten mine all figured out its a three star product at least. Well. Back to the k2. Trying to get 10V to 17dps im six hours in so far.