Lansky Knife Sharpening Kit Diamond Hone Review

Lansky Knife Sharpening Kit Diamond Hone Review

Editor: Mike

Basic Description of item:
4-Stone Deluxe Diamond System / Precision Knife Sharpening Kit – Diamond Hones
Includes Extra Coarse Diamond (70 grit), Coarse Diamond (120 grit), Medium Diamond (280 grit), and Fine Diamond (600 grit) Hones

Just the Facts:
Diamond Kits are very aggressive and are best for quickly setting an edge or resetting the edge to a different angle. Diamonds remove steel much faster than their alumina oxide counterparts.
All knife sharpener systems include:
• Precision-engineered, multi-angle, flip-over knife clamp.
• Sharpening hones on color-coated, finger-grooved safety holders
• One guide rod for each honing stone
• Specially formulated honing oil
• Extra long knife clamp screws
• Custom molded storage/carrying case to hold all system components
• Complete easy-to-follow multi-lingual instructions
Sharpening Angles
17° Angle – A severe angle recommended for razor blades, X-Acto© blades, scalpels or similar tools. Provides an extremely sharp but delicate edge.
20° Angle – A commonly used angle for higher quality blades and provides an excellent edge for kitchen cutlery and filet knives.
25° Angle – The recommended angle for most knives that need a durable, sharp edge. Ideal for hunting and outdoor knives.
30° Angle – An outstanding angle for knives that see the heavy use of cutting cardboard, wire or carpets. Recommended for heavy duty use.

Story:
I have owned my knife sharpening kit from Lansky for 5 years, and have sharpened hundreds of knives with it. I have sharpened some of my favorite hunting knives 5-10 times each with the Lansky Sharpening System.

I chose to buy the Diamond system, because I have several Knives of Alaska, knives. I was told by them that to reset the edge a diamond hone must be used.
It took me a little while, maybe 3 knives worth of sharpening to figure out the best way to use the Lansky knife sharpener, but now I feel like I am an old pro.
The kit comes with:
-Knife Clamp.
-5 Honing Stones, Diamond, down to 600 Grit fine edge hone.
-5 rods that act as guides, and hold the stones.
-Decent instructions
-A good case.
The steel rods are connected to the Honing Stones with a simple screw in clamp. It is imperative that you clamp the rod in EXACTLY the same with each stone. This will ensure that you keep the same degree of angle between each stone.

I start with the Diamond stone, and work each side of my knife about 10 times. I then repeat this process with each of the additional stones, all the way down to the FINE stone.
I use each stone for about 30 seconds, so the total time for me to sharpen a knife, if it needs a new edge, is about 15 minutes. This includes set up, and sharpening.
If you are re-sharpening a knife you would probably only use 2-3 stones, this cuts the time way down.
So, how good is it?
I always test my knives by trying to shave my arm afterwards. DO NOT DO THIS!!!
I am able to easily achieve a Razor sharp edge on any decent hunting knife that I own.
I have sharpened: Benchmade, SOG, Knives of Alaska, Browning Black…and many more, all with the same results, RAZOR sharp.
So nice job Lansky, you have created a system that:
-Works
-Is repeatable
-Has withstood the test of time.

I would recommend this as a buy.
It is a good kit, easy to use, and just works. There are faster systems out there, but this is certainly a good good option.

What they could do better:
-It takes some time to set up, make this quicker by making a notch in the steel rods, or something that allows me to put the rod in at the same depth with ease