Lansky Standard Sharpening System

The Lansky sharpening system has been around since the 1980s and is very popular, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is quite inexpensive compared to more advanced systems like Wicked Edge. And secondly, it is pretty much foolproof. Freehand sharpening on bench stones takes quite a bit of skill and practice, but with the Lansky system, anyone should be able to produce good, consistent sharp edges, provided they follow the instructions (watching a couple of YouTube videos showing how it's done is also helpful). However, it is not perfect. Here are a few things I've learned after buying the standard Lansky kit and using it intensively to sharpen 50 or 60 knives “ and then redoing all the first ones I did after learning how to get much better results! 1. You pretty much have to mount the clamp on a pivot base, either one of the several different kinds available as accessories, or rigging something up yourself. The whole thing becomes a lot more stable and secure when it's mounted on a base. I got one of the aluminium mounts and screwed it down to a good solid block of beech, and it's so much better. You can hold the knife instead of the clamp, and you can also apply more pressure with the hone. Holding the clamp in one hand and moving the hone with the other “ yeah, it can be done, but it's not ideal, and it also means that you're trusting the clamp to hold the blade and not drop it onto your foot. I'd never use this system without a base now. 2. The thumbscrews on the clamp and hones are fiddly and inadequate. I got rid of them, tapped the holes to take standard M5 metric bolts, then installed some nice stainless hardware, which has several advantages. You can get replacement bolts anywhere, and use longer ones in the clamp for extra-thick blades. Using bolts with low-profile heads extends the range of travel of the hones, reducing wear on the middle and enabling the sharpening of longer blades. You can tighten all of the bolts with a 3mm hex key, which conveniently snaps into one of the spare guide rod clips in the lid of the case “ sweet! And you can get everything done up tighter, so you don't have knives coming loose from the clamp or the hone guide rods going wonky, which happens all the time using the standard thumbscrews and light finger pressure' recommended in the manual. 3. If you care about the finish on the sides of your blades, using the standard clamp with bare aluminium jaws is going to mark them up. Lansky sell a deluxe clamp with rubber inserts, but by all accounts the rubber comes off very easily. I've found that simply wrapping the clamp jaws with a piece of masking tape or PVC tape effectively prevents marking. 4. The fine hone which comes with the standard kit is 600 grit, which will produce a workable sharp edge, but if you want a real razor-sharp edge, you'll need to get either the 1000 grit ultrafine hone or the hard Arkansas hone, and be prepared to do some stropping afterwards. It just depends how obsessive you want to get with your sharpening. You will also need extra hones to deal with concave curved blades like karambits or pruning knives, or serrated blades.

Had been wanting one of these for ages and finally got one. Took a bit of getting used to getting a technique down pat, now after 2days i've put razor edges on half my collection. Will def be buying the ultra rough for re-profiling and the ultra fine for mirror polish.4.5-5

This is truly a Great piece of kit. A little fiddly to start with but once you get used to how to hold and use it then it works really well. Took about 30 mins to correct a badly made/damaged edge but knife is now paper slicing sharp. Will be ordering other stones to speed the same process up in the future as creating an edge from scratch on knives I make could take a while with the coarse so an extra coarse will be ordered very soon.

I bought this to replace my worn out Gatco set and what a great piece of kit! I was unable to get an edge on my Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife until I tried this. It took a while but now the knife is shaving sharp! Thoroughly recommend this. Thanks HH.

I got this elsewhere before I spotted that HH stocked it. This is the whetstone version and it is highly effective on slightly softer steels. It has restored a consistent angle across my blade collection where the edge and angle has been ruined by freehand sharpening. The Lansky system constrains the angle by a slot in the clamp and gives a smooth transition from tail to tip. Possibly on harder steels the diamond version might be more effective at creating a new grind angle but the whetstone version is cable of restoring a keen edge albeit that the existing grind angle will live on for a while. Recommended.

Very fast delivery again, especially considering the time of year! Great system - looking forward to learning how to use it properly.

Initial reaction on opening the box wasn't good. It looked, frankly, cheap and flimsy. There are a few downsides; it's fiddly to set up, not exactly bomb proof robustness and the case grips the rods so firmly you'll almost be guaranteed to bend them getting them out. On the plus side it works!! The technique takes a little while to get to grips with but if you persevere you'll get good results. I've not got my knives to scalpel sharpness but it's done fifty times better than other systems I've tried. I can also see how it might actually help teach you to use stones and steels at the correct angle so you could eventually get good results "free hand".

Very pleased with the end resault not sure about the extra coarse & coarse stones but unless your reprofileing you should never let your knife get in the state that you should want to use them, very good for the price I shall be investing in some ceramics & diamonds for it, 100% service from H.H as expected many thanks. Not so for Royal Mail paid for Saturday delivery and got them today, a little bit of snow & Britain goes to pot, oh well maybe god will give me a refund ;)

I have bought loads of sharpeners over the years. Mainly pull through types, but have never been able to sharpen a knife to save my life. From the first attempt with this system I have achieved razor sharp edges. It is just so easy to use, brilliant 10/10.