Lansky Deluxe Knife Sharpening System

Great sharpening system and build quality. The ability to use multiple knives and stones allows you to get a great edge on your knives. Highly recommend buying the desk stand for this as well as it does make it much easier to handle and get a better finish with both hands free.Instructions are clear and the storage box is durable.

On opening the box you could be forgiven for wondering what fiendishly complex sharpening kit you've just bought for yourself. Don't worry - the Lansky kit is actually extremely simple to use.With a tradntional whetstone, the stone remains stationary while you move the knife (usually freehand) across the stone's surface to achieve an edge. The quality of the edge depends very much on the angle you sharpen the blade at, the amount of pressure applied and the coarseness of the stone. With all these variables it takes a LOT of practice to do a "proper job".The Lansky kit makes it simple to achieve wonderfully sharp, consistent edges by turning the principle on it's head. Rather than keep the whetstone still, you clamp the knife in place and, using a guide rod and a series of spaced holes in the clamp move the whetstone along the blade. By placing the guide holes in the clamp and fixing the blade, you are ensured of getting a near perfectly consistent sharpening angle across the length of the blade. The Deluxe kit comes with 5 whetstones of varying coarseness, ranging from 70 to 1000. The grade 70 stone should be used sparingly to take out any major nicks in a blade while the 1000 grade stone will hone the finest of edges. Complete with a 30ml bottle of "Nathan's Natural Honing Oil" to lubricate the stones, this kit should last a good while. I've found that one drop of oil is plenty for the fine stone, while a couple of drops works better for the coarse stone.In use, the clamp itself can be a bit fiddly to hold, so I'd recommend purchasing it with the "Super C" clamp which will allow you to mount the whole setup firmly to a table and leave both hands free for sharpening duties. It also means that you can keep your fingers out of the way which is a good thing as a freshly Lansky sharpened knife has an amazingly sharp edge on it. I've foud that sharpening a knife will range from between 2 and 5 minutes depending on how dull/damaged the blade is to start with - if you keep maintaining the edge with your lansky kit then I expect the time will lessen as maintenance is easier than repair.Sharp knives are always safer than dull ones and this has to be the best knife sharpening system that I've ever used. Kinder to the knives than your typical "supermarket gadget" sharpener; achieves a finer edge than a sharpening steel; easier and more consistent than a regular whetstone. Highly recommended.

So I have only had this item for a day as I have a kitchen knife that was completely ruined by someone who "attempted" to sharpen it. Watching a few youtube videos, I begun to understand how the system works, and what you should be doing to get that perfect edge. Key points to note. The rods go into the underside of the sharpening stone, and not on top (like I initially did). This caused about half an hour of delay and realising I wasn't actually going very far as the angle was too acute. Swapped it around to the correct way, and levelled the bar with the flat edge of the sharpening stone (put the bar in the stone slot, and place the stone face down on a flat surface. Then tighten the thumbscrew and check alignment. Depending on the quality of the blade, choose your grit. The lower the number, the more coarse the stone is (you can feel the difference by rubbing your finger over each stone). Kitchen knives will generally want to be sharpened to 20 degrees, however check with the knife manufacturer on what degree your knife was initially made to.Work the blade until you can feel a bur on the underside of the entirety blade. Flip it over, and do the same again. Once the bur is on the underside of the blade, go down coarseness. I personally used black for about half an hour (trust me, my knife was completely and utterly ruined), then move on to red / grey / blue / and finally finish off with yellow. Between each stone, make sure you get a bur on the underside of the knife, flip it, bur the opposite side, swap out for finer stone.It's a pretty simple process, and once you are done, you'll have a perfectly sharp blade once again.Pros: Packaging is nice, and should last for years. Does what it's meant to, and sharpen your blades to a nice finish.Cons: Ok, so I'm being slightly over-critical here. This set isn't complete. You pretty much HAVE to have a Lansky pedestal to go along with this. I tried to sharpen without the pedestal just to see the difference and it was extremely difficult to say the least. Nevermind the increased risk of cutting yourself. Also, for a perfect finish, you need the leather stropping hone (also an additional purchase). Lack of instructions included with the system was a bit of a downer. EDIT: Also, the rubber pads that come on the clamp have slightly dislodged with only about 1 hour of use. I'm pretty gutted about this, but I will buy some epoxy and stick those suckers back in place once they no longer hold their place. I would have expected a very high grade glue used, but alas it wasn't that great. I managed to realign them just by pushing on the side and they moved back in place. Hey Lansky, if you're listening, improve the glue on the rubber grips!Conclusion: Works really well, and brought my notched blunt kitchen knife back into working service. I still have quite a bit of work left to work out my notches, but eventually it'll be brilliant. I rated this 4/5 because the leather strop was an additional purchase. In my opinion, and feel free to disagree with me here, is that a "Deluxe" sharpening system should have a leather strop included to do a professional finish. But that's just my 2c! If you're new to this system, buy this kit with a pedestal, and if you really want to do a great finish, get the leather strop too.

I am a man, and I like to do manly things. I cook, I tinker with my car and bikes, I build things around the house, decorate, smoke copious amounts of meat on my barbecue, and all the other things men should do. What I can't do, however, is sharpen a knife! I have tried all manner of counter top sharpeners and whetstone, and the best I can do is ruin a blade.Then I bought this Lansky sharpening system, and what a game changer it is! I bought it on the recommendation of a friend that had attended a knife making course, and they had used it there. I also bought the support stand to go with it. It's brilliant. That's all I can say. Brilliant!Once you have your knife blade clamped into the vice, using each sharpening stone in turn couldn't be easier. The guides, once located into the correct angled hole, give a consistent and perfect angle on the blade, and all that is required is a little time to guide the stones back and forth, with a little pressure on the backstroke, to get a perfect, razor sharp edge.This felt at first like a bit of a gamble, having already spent money on other sharpeners, but I'm so glad I did. This is by far the best and last sharpener I shall ever use, and it is fully deserving of a five star review. I absolutely, whole heartedly recommend this system.I always try to write an honest and unbiased review of all the products I order. My reviews are only my opinion, of course, but I hope they help.