I have a friend I served with who is getting into knives but doesn’t know how to sharpen with traditional stones.
I know of the Lansky kit but are there any others that you’d recommend?
I know with three kids graduating soon & heading off to college he’s mentioned not having a ton to throw at a new hobby but I thought the Lansky was cheap enough.
I’m guessing he’ll be wanting to stay under $100.
I searched Amazon and saw a number of different contraptions but since I use traditional stones & have never used these type of sharpening setups I don’t know what’s decent & what’s junk.

Any help & opinions are appreciated and I’ll be sending him a link so he can read along!

Lansky is awesome, make sure you get the diamond stones. My son can make that non-diamond version work great but I don't have that kind of patience.

Also, suggest a small 2 sided DMT Diamond hone. Medium on one side, fine on the other. That's what I use 95 percent of the time as it's @ 10 seconds to sharpen a kitchen knife.

I'd also suggest you have him buy a magic marker or the brand of his choice. Permanent is better. Explain that he should mark or stripe the edge (only) each time before he begins. Oh, maybe a can of old fashioned lighter fluid, too. Its a telltale for him to see where he's actually sharpening. It'll work with any brand kit, stone or whatever.

It also will prolong the life of the blade by keeping him on the edge, not up where it does no good.

The Lansky is easy to use. I have a Chinese knockoff of The Edgepro that's good for removing a lot of metal. My favorite for light touch up is the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It's quick to set up and pretty easy to get the hang of.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jaybirdaccountant,

Take a look at Gatco sharpeners. Diamond stones? Only if your buddy has some of the “V” steels.

I have a couple of Gatco Diamonds for $60 shipped!

Maybe a tad more than the $100 limit you mentioned, but the Worksharp Ken Onion is really easy to use even for a beginner and results are excellent for everything from kitchen knives to axes. Another option is the Spiderco Sharpmaker at around $75. Pretty hard to mess up a blade with that system but it does take a lot of work if you're starting with a very dull blade. I never had much luck with a Lansky kit. Maybe I didn't have the patience required for that system. When I set out to sharpen, I do 5-6 knives in a session and that takes forever with the Lansky.

I'll second the Spyderco Sharpmaker. I've had one for years and can do a really sharp blade with it.

For dull blades or to reprofile a blade I double sided tape 3M Wet\Dry sandpaper to the stones.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: braillediver,

Another vote for the Sharpmaker. Easier to use than traditional stones, but maybe not as enjoyable with the techniques.

I love my Spyderco Sharpmaker and with the addition of the Ultra Fine and Diamond sticks I can sharpen just about anything into a razor sharp knife.

I am a BIG Wicked Edge System fan!!