Evil's Lansky System: Mods, tips and tricks.....

[evil510]

Hey there, gang. As per requests from the forum, here is a post on a few mods that I have done for the popular Lansky sharpening system. I will also show you a few tips and tricks that have made it more efficient for me. Your mileage may vary, of course. Some either love it or hate it and it can be a bit finicky at times. While I finish all of my blades freehand, I do use the Lanksy on occasions to set my initial angles on certain blades. With little tweaks here and there, it can make an already decent system more efficient. Anyway, I hope that some of this post helps.....

~ evil ~

HANDHELD BASE

When I first started out using the Lansky, I would just use the bottom arm as a handle. At the time, I thought it worked decently. After a while, I thought that I would try out a base, so, I made one for it on one of my desks. I soon realized that having a base made me work more efficiently. One immediate advantage is that in between shifts of flipping it over or when taking a break to eat, go to the restroom, etc., your knife is always safely hovering above you work surface, as opposed to having to gingerly lay the whole setup, etc. Another advantage is that you are able to apply considerably more pressure. I let the stones do most of the work when actually sharpening, though there are times, like when re-profiling or fixing a chipped blade, especially of a high grade steel, that you need to apply firm pressure or you'll be there all day. I move around a lot and found that I did not like doing my sharpening all of the time at the same place. So, to be mobile, a portable base was in order. I played around with different sizes. It had to be large enough to support larger knives that I may sharpen without toppling over, yet small enough to be truly portable. I turned a piece of aluminum rod for the pillar, reducing diameter at the top to fit the holder. I can set it down on a surface and sharpen or hold it in my hand to do so. When in your hand, the bottom part of the clamp is in the palm of your hand, fingers wrap around the stand to form a sort of pistol grip which I find way more comfortable than holding the clamp by itself. In doing so, you will find that you can apply more pressure if need be as well as gaining more control.....

BOTTOM VIEW - DISASSEMBLED


TOP VIEW - ASSEMBLED

ROD ADJUSTMENT WRENCH

In order to get consistent results, your stones and rods have to be straight and true relative to one another. This in turn means that from time to time you will have to bend your rods. The forces put on the plastic holder can damage them. I had an older one basically shatter on me. Another time, I had one of the threaded inserts get pushed outward. I wanted to come up with a way to bend the rods that didn't put the holder under any stress. My adjustment wrench contacts the rod in four areas above and below the holder. Made from scrap pieces of angle iron and bar stock that I welded up. The result is that I can apply all of the pressure I need to with zero risk of damage to the holder. I made it the same length as the rods, so there's plenty of leverage.....

FULL VIEW


CLOSE-UP VIEW


ATTACHED TO ROD

ROD/STONE ALIGNMENT JIG

Consistency among your whole setup is important, I feel. If one stone within your set is out of whack, it can throw things off and you may find yourself taking a step backwards, wondering why your blade is not turning out as sharp as you had hoped. I actually store my stones and rods connected, so I don't have to true them nearly as often. To those that tear them down between jobs this is definitely more of an issue. Sure, it is quite easy enough to do with a long flat surface at hand. Even still, while not as important, you also need to make them straight as possible when viewing from the topside. I set out to make something portable that would expedite the whole process. This jig that I made makes it a very quick, easy and consistently repeatable process. You merely loosen up the set screw, set stone and rod in the jig, push both flat against the jig to align, tighten set screw and you're all done.....

FULL VIEW


SIDE VIEW


TOP VIEW

BALL AND SOCKET PIVOT JOINT

Admittedly, this modification is probably overkill and unnecessary to anyone but me. I won't go into technical babble about contact area, angles, stress points created by the stock system, etc. I will go as far to say that to a perfectionist like me, it has indeed made a difference.....

SPHERICAL COUNTERSINK


NEW SPHERICAL BOLT


SIDE VIEW


TOP VIEW

MODIFIED JAWS

Early on, a constant problem for me was that the stones would contact the clamping jaws instead of the blade. To lessen the odds of this happening, I figured why not just shave them down beforehand to avoid contact to begin with. I went 17 degrees for the primary bevel until the edge was about 1/32" then followed up with a 20 degree secondary grind until I got to a blunt point. I then blended them together. Going 17 degrees all the way to the tip would have jeopardized the strength of the tip, I feel. If you make it too thin you run the risk of the jaws splaying outwards. especially when working with smaller blades with little surface area. I also replaced the stock rubber pads with self fusing silicone type tape. They've been working well for me.....

TOOL FOR BENT CLAMP

With the newer style clamp, I feel Lansky took a step backwards. I realize they made the recess so they could use a knurled pivot bolt without it interfering with the sharpening process, however, in doing so, they created a weak link that can bend. The older style is more desirable if you can find them. They are of a consistent thickness and less prone to bending. There is both a steel and aluminum version. I have been meaning to make my own version one day but the way I have things setup works fine for me, for now anyway. When they get bent, they are easy to straighten with basic tools. I don't like making needless trips for tools if I don't have to. This little jig is tiny enough to fit in with the rest of the kit and can straighten out a clamp in no time flat. It consists of a scrap piece of angle iron, a high grade bolt, two washers and a nut. I initially tapped threads into the angle iron but I found it difficult to hold it tightly enough to torque down on the bolt without having to use something like a wrench or pliers to hold it. I could have left it tapped and welded on a handle for leverage or make a whole new one out of a longer piece of metal, however I wanted to make this out of leftover materials without dipping into my usable stock. Anyway, I opted to use a nut instead so I could use a proper wrench on both sides. Tighten it up, beyond straight to the point it starts to bow the opposite direction. It rebounds a bit once you release pressure. Have a straightedge at hand or something you know to be straight. The side face of the other clamp will also work in a pinch. When you think you're close, release pressure and check for straightness. Tighten and repeat this process until true. As a side note: you could simply use the other side of the clamp set up like this to get this done, however, there mere fact that it is aluminum, you'd run the risk shearing the threads, leaving you with a new problem.....

REPLACING STOCK SCREWS

Here's one simple mod that anyone can do which only requires changing existing hardware. I'm all about efficiency. This means utilizing as much of the sharpening stone surface as possible. For me, the stock setup prevented being able to do this. The photos below will better show what I am referring to. One thing that I like about my whole setup is that with just one hex wrench, I can just everything from rods, clamp pivot bolt and clamp adjustment bolt as all of them require the same size. Efficient and convenient.....

Here you can see the recessed set screws.....


Stock set screw hitting clamp in turn means surface area of stone going to waste.....


Even with new recessed set screw, the stock adjustment bolt on the clamp may interfere.....


Socket head set screw is very narrow in comparison.....


This setup allows for a full stroke.....

[ducttapetech]

Very nice Evil. I have done some of the mods you have done. I got all of my rods at 90° and replaced all of the screws. I also made a base for mine that clamps down on a table or work bench. Never thought about grinding out some of the clap. That would definitely help with some of the steeper angles or tiny blades.
Thanks for the info man. Great work as always.

That's us mobile

[Grant Lamontagne]

And I thought the Lansky was overly technical to begin with! 

Seriously man, you have fixed some of the things I always felt were lacking with the Lansky, but I just assumed were par for the course with the design.

Exceptional job!  If I knew anyone at Lansky I would send them a link to this thread so they could fix all the problems for the next generation! 

Def

[Toolslinger]

Wow! You took that system up a few levels. Very nice work.

[Aloha]

Wow! You took that system up a few levels. Very nice work.

^^^ This

As usual you Sir have turned a good tool into a master piece. 

[jerseydevil]

I want one! Very nice!

[Poncho65]

That is awesome evil   I especially like that most of these tips just require a hardware change

[sLaughterMed]

nice job evil. im going to have to steal some of those ideas. thanks for posting the thread

[Sparky415]

Wow! You took that system up a few levels. Very nice work.

^^^ This

As usual you Sir have turned a good tool into a master piece.

I'm with these two 

 

[evil510]

Very nice Evil. I have done some of the mods you have done. I got all of my rods at 90° and replaced all of the screws. I also made a base for mine that clamps down on a table or work bench. Never thought about grinding out some of the clap. That would definitely help with some of the steeper angles or tiny blades.
Thanks for the info man. Great work as always.
That's us mobile

That's great to hear. The hardware exchange is so easy, cheap and resolves a few basic issues. A base really does make a difference, I feel. At first, I was content with just holding the clamp in my hand. Made the handheld base and never went back. Reshaping the jaws does help, especially with smaller blades.....

And I thought the Lansky was overly technical to begin with! Seriously man, you have fixed some of the things I always felt were lacking with the Lansky, but I just assumed were par for the course with the design. Exceptional job!  If I knew anyone at Lansky I would send them a link to this thread so they could fix all the problems for the next generation! 
Def

Thank you, Def. I too, hope their next iteration of this system will address some of these issues.....

Wow! You took that system up a few levels. Very nice work.

Thank you, Toolslinger.....

As usual you Sir have turned a good tool into a master piece.

Thank you, Aloha.....

I want one! Very nice!

Thank you, jerseydevil. Most of these mods are very easy to do.....

That is awesome evil   I especially like that most of these tips just require a hardware change

Thank you, Poncho. Replacing the hardware is indeed the best 'bang for your buck' mod for this system.....

nice job evil. im going to have to steal some of those ideas. thanks for posting the thread

Thank you sLaughter. I hope they help you get the most out of your Lansky.....

Wow! You took that system up a few levels. Very nice work.

As usual you Sir have turned a good tool into a master piece.

I'm with these two   

Thank you, sparky 

[rickboone]

Still using this system?  Any updates?   I would like on of the rod-bending-jigs if you ever make them available.