What's a good sharpening system?

Folks,

I can only imagine the variety of ways to get a good edge on a working knife. Most of my knives I will never attempt or NEED to sharpen, but like all of us I have some that I use regularly. I have a set of those ceramic sticks from A.G. Russell, that will maintain a good edge already, but I have found it is too fine to remove much new material.

Xmas and a birthday are upcoming. I hear good things about the Spyderco sharpening system, as well as Lansky. I am good with my hands, but if a sharpening guide makes it failsafe, so be it. You tell me.

Mostly, I'm green on this stuff. Fill me in. What works for you?

Coop

Coop, when I don't have access to the belt grinder, I use one of A.G.Russell's little black boxes that has two sets of rods in them. One set is ceramic; the other is diamond. The latter will remove material, although not as quickly as a flat diamond bench stone.

If you don't have difficulty maintaining a consistent sharpening angle with bench stones, they are probably the best bet in the absence of a grinder.

Taking note of your enthusiam for sharp things, however, it's my guess that you probably will wind up investing in some sort of belt sander, even if it's an inexpensive one. You might even try your hand at making a knife or two. I've seen the symptoms before....

When I have time I like flat stones. (and I need new ones) Sitting in front of the tv and sharpening this or that knife from the collection is about the only zen meditation I get anymore. : Still the spyderco sharpmaker is pretty good. As long as you can hold a knife straight up and down you can use one.

I have several stones / systems that I enjoy playing with. The Lansky when I want precision and I am in the house, my belt grinder when I'm in the shop, and I have the Spyderco Sharpmaker system I use mostly on my kitchen knives. I also have a set of bench stones from 150 grit diamond through a 4000 grit water stone.

Got to have lots of toys to play with you know!!

I use the Lansky on all my knives to set the final edge after "roughing" it on the beltgrinder. I like its precision and makes it possible for the customer to dublicate the same edge. I finish the edge with a leather stop coated in jevelers rouge. This make the sharpest edge I have tried.

However I do have the Sharpmaker by Spyderco and I use that one to sharpen the knives I carry myself because I am to lazy to use the Lansky for those......It is quit good if the excisting edge has the right angle.

I like Lansky too. I recommend to my customers who want to get a decent system for a reasonable price, although I've started putting all my edges on with the belt grinder once I got over the fear of getting that perfect, etched and polished finish anywhere -near- the thing!

One thing about Lanskies though- be sure you put tape or something over the clamp ends or they'll scratch your blade. I keep meaning to try a rubber dip as a more permanent solution, but so far masking tape works the best.

How about the edge pro? Seems a little pricey but I have heard nothing but good things about it.