DMT aligner kit v. a lansky basic kit

[spyder8]

i have a fine stone and i can get my knife sharp but not scarry sharp. i am thinking of getting a pro sharping system but i dont have much $$$. What is your opinion? I am thinking of a DMT aligner kit or a lansky basic kit, the lansky is cheaper but the DMT is colapsable. (or mabey i should but a dictonairy )

 

[Ilovetoolsteel]

i have a fine stone and i can get my knife sharp but not scarry sharp. i am thinking of getting a pro sharping system but i dont have much $$$. What is your opinion? I am thinking of a DMT aligner kit or a lansky basic kit, the lansky is cheaper but the DMT is colapsable. (or mabey i should but a dictonairy )

I would normally have nothing but the highest praise for Lansky. I had purchased the standard 5 stone sharpening kit. However last spring I decided to upgrade and I bought the three hone lansky diamond kit. The quality has dropped markedy. The blade clamp/guide in the new set is junk. The clamp no longer has the recess at the tips to keep the blade from shifting in the camp. The screw that tightens up the clamp is garbage. You can't clamp the blade as tight anymore. The guide rods used to have a flat spot on the end that goes into stone holder. when you tightened the thumb screw the rod wouldn't shift.

To top all that off I scraped most of the diamond off of the center area of hones after sharpening about 6 knives.
Drew

 

[glockman99]

I have gone back to a benchstone (freehand)...Actually, I'm using a Smith's Tri-Hone and it works better (for me, anyway) than either a Lansky or one of those other various "clamp-on" sharpeners, as I can really get a "feel" for the blade. I also finish-off with a (flat) Gerber steel, and have had no problem with keeping razor-sharp edges on my knives.