Lansky Super Sapphire Hone

I have used my Lansky sharpening system for decades. By adding this stone and the strop, anyone can put a scary sharp, hair-popping edge on a knife because it helps them maintain the correct angle. No "one dime, two dime" guesswork here! There is something very satisfying about putting a truly sharp edge on a knife. I love my Lansky system. My stone had a little crystallization on a segment of the sharpening surface, but it doesn't seem to affect the performance. Great product!

I received this stone along with the deluxe diamond kit and went to work on my EDC folder. After going from extra course to fine in the deluxe kit, I opened the package for the super sapphire and immediately noticed that the stone was falling off from its plastic mount. Further inspection caused the stone to completely detach from the mount. Before going through Amazon, I contacted Lansky through their website. I received a reply within 24 hours stating that they normally require the product to be returned for QA inspection and a replacement to be sent, they waived this for me! That is a plus for me because I ordered the item with the sharpener to take advantage of free shipping, and was afraid that sending the super sapphire back would cost more than the item itself. That alone shows how they care for their customers. Any company willing to back their product like that is a good company that I certainly would do business with again, and in fact will. Their customer support truly is 5 stars in my experience. As others have noted, it seems getting that mirror finish is nearly impossible, but I may be doing it wrong here. Getting a mirror finish takes time and effort, something I havent put too much into that particular knife since I was just happy to have it shaving sharp and even happier finding out about them sending me a replacement stone. If you inspect the folder that I did, you will see "patches" of blade with a mirror finish, so I dont doubt the sapphire's ability to put on a mirror finish, I may just be using the wrong technique.

Item was received on time though like others the actual stone fell off the plastic part. Luckily for me a bit of contact cement holds it in tightly now. Its something that should not happen but it did and I did not want to return it. As for other users claiming it was not as sharp as S1000 stone, its because they still have a thin burr and wire edge which may be initially sharp, once it folds over it will no longer be sharp. This stone will remove the wire edge and polish better than the s1000 stone but its still not the end of it. You need to strop the knife if you want the smoothest edge, an edge enough to shave with. This is a worthwhile stone to get if you have the lansky system

I used the complete Lansky diamond sharpening system on several neglected knives and was very pleased with the end results. The ultra fine hone delivered as promised and I could have walked away perfectly content with an extremely sharp edge if I'd stopped there. But I was curious as to how far the sapphire hone could take it. The sapphire adapts to the same system as the other hones though the ceramic isn't blue as it appears in many photos. It's white. After using the ultra fine the blade edge still showed small lacerations from the diamond stones. The sapphire pretty well eliminated all these markings, leaving a mirror-like polish and an incredibly fine edge that easily shaved the hairs off my forearm. I can't say that this final "polish" necessarily made the knife more sharp. Probably it did to some extent. But it definitely enhanced the esthetics and the end result after about 15 minutes of use was impressive. Bottom line is I think you could get by perfectly well without the sapphire hone, but if you take pride in your cutlery and you enjoy the process of working your blades, the sapphire hone is definitely worth it.

Added this to the Lansky stable a few weeks ago and have been quite pleased. It's 2000 grit and will put a wicked sharp edge on a blade. The stone feels very smooth, almost like hard white glass. Use a very light coat of oil and clean with a soft cloth occasionally during and after use. You'll see a hint of grey on the stone and your cloth so you know that you're removing metal even if it's only a tiny bit. The end result is a mirror polish edge that is better than any factory edge (including some very high end manufacturers) I've ever seen. It takes a great deal of patience but the fact that I could now shave with my kitchen knives makes me smile.

Ok, I received this stone today... The thing that first struck me was that the stone is a white color instead of being purple as shown in the images. I compared it with the Ultra fine stone (white stone in a yellow holder) that I received at the same time, and they feel pretty much the same. On closer inspection, the working surface has a recessed area about 2/3 of the way up the stone, where it's not flush with the rest of the surface. It's a pretty big defect for a super-fine polishing surface. I've contacted Lansky using their website, and will update this comment based on their response. Note that I've been using a Lansky sharpening system for about 25 years, and am a big fan. Don't let this negative review dissuade you from trying the Lansky system. Update: I contacted Lansky, and they sent me a replacement stone. The replacement stone has a flat working surface, which is a big improvement. Unfortunately, the edges were jagged. This isn't something that would affect the use of the stone, but it is unsightly. I used the diamond-fine stone to smooth the edges at a 45 degree angle, and got rid of the jagged edges. Note that the replacement again was a white stone, not the purple stone that's shown in the images and on the packaging. I used the new stone today, and it seems to have a more coarse finish than the ultra-fine white stone. This despite the sapphire stone being advertised as 2000 grit and the ultra-fine stone being advertised as 1000 grit. Oh well, either one works well for putting a final finish on the edge. Upgrading to 5 stars for Katherine in the Lansky customer service department standing behind their product.

Makes a very shiny and sharp edge after using the fine sharpening stone on the blade. Very smooth and sharp, the actual stone that was shipped was white stone on blue plastic handle. One or two drops of honing oil before sharpening are all that is needed on a blade to make it glide on the blade and get the job done quickly. Personally, I wipe the stone down with a cotton cloth and maybe a drop of honing oil to clean the surface off after I'm done to extend the life of the stone. Doing this always gets all the metal shaving/powder off and makes the stone look like new again.

I don't know what grit this stone is, but it's REALLY fine and it polishes an edge like nobody's business.