I realize that most aren't going to be following a thread this old anymore, but, since knife sharpeners are some of my favorite tools, I thought I'd reply anyway.
Is there a model that you recommend?
The DMT Aligner Pro Kit is the one you're looking for. Depending on where you buy it the kit may come with the extra, extra-fine stone (EE-Fine 8,000 grit), or it may not. The price usually reflects that, and often you can buy the 3-stone kit and add the 8,000 grit EE-Fine stone for less than buying the 4-stone kit. So shop around. Another option is the Dia-Fold Magna-Guide kit. It uses two of the 2-sided Dia-Fold pocket stones in 325/600 & 1,200/8,000 grits along with an Aligner blade clamp and a magnetic guide that snaps onto the end of the Dia-fold stones. I sometimes use the Magna-Guide kit as a field sharpener since it's so light and travels so well. However, unlike the Aligner Deluxe system, the Magna-Guide system doesn't come with the serration sharpener. You have to buy that separately. It's also worth noting that there is a new stone available for the Aligner system that is made for use with recurved blades; the serration sharpener also works for this, though not as well. The Aligner blade clamp can also be used with regular bench stones. (There's a video on DMT's website showing how to do that.)
The one big drawback to the DMT Aligner & Magna-Guide sharpeners is that, as far as I know, there is no bench mount available for the blade clamp. If you have a swiveling bench vice this isn't a big deal. You can just swivel it so that it's perpendicular to the edge of the bench & lock the clamp in by the sides of the main piece. (
DO NOT clamp it in the vice using the adjustable angle guides! You will break it if you do!) Without a mounted bench vice you may want to spring for the Gatco blade clamp and the bench mount for it. Having the assembly mounted to a bench not only gives you the best results, but it also makes it
considerably easier to get those results! The Lansky clamp & bench mount will also work, but it only has four angle choices to Gatco's six.
Does the aligner come with a stone or is this just the alignment piece that attached to the back of the blade?
The Aligner kit comes with 1-4 stones depending upon the exact model, or if you already have some of the extremely popular Dia-fold pocket stones you can buy just the Aligner blade clamp & the snap-on magnetic guide rod for a little over $20.
All that being said, if I were looking for a good knife sharpener for under $100 I'd get a Work Sharp WSKTS. It runs about $70 and will sharpen most anything larger than a pen knife, including recurves. I wouldn't recommend using it on serrations though. I know that Work Sharp says the WSKTS does serrations, but I recommend against it. Using it that way will eventually grind away the tips of the serrations. Work Sharp also makes the $140 Ken Onion Edition, which is a fantastic tool if you've got the money, but the regular WSKTS will do 99% of what the average guy needs to do for half the price. Both will also work on axes, machetes (it's the best machete sharpener I know of!), scissors, shears, lawn mower blades, shovels, etc..., etc....
Work Sharp also make the WS 3000, which is designed for sharpening woodworking tools, and the best field sharpener I've ever seen, the Guided Field Sharpener. It has coarse & fine diamond stones, a 3-sided ceramic rod -- coarse, fine & fish hook -- a ceramic serration sharpener & a leather strop, and it has built in angle guides for all of the sharpening surfaces along with two broadhead wrenches built into the frame (under the easily removable diamond plates). All this and it still weighs just a hair over six ounces and fits into your shirt pocket! It's the tool that replaced the DMT Dia-fold Magna-Guide kit as my main field sharpener. They've also just introduced their Guided Sharpening System which uses interchangeable angle guides, multiple diamond stones, ceramic rods & a leather strop all in one innovative system. It looks to be another home run for them. I've not yet had the opportunity to use one, but based on the reviews of several YouTube product reviewers it's a darn good system.
The two sharpening systems that I use for all of my knife sharpening needs are the Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Knife & Tool Sharpener and the KME Precision Knife Sharpener. Between the two of them you can sharpen pretty much anything (other than chisels), and do a darn good job of it. Neither are inexpensive, but the KME is, IMHO, by far the best value of all the high end sharpening systems like the Edge Pro & Wicked Edge sharpeners, and it's capable of giving you professional quality results every time. I actually used my KME system for a weekend knife sharpening business that I used to have. You can get the same results as you would get with the more expensive systems, but it's cheaper and easier to use. I recommend checking it out!
www.KMESharp.com
