Lansky\Gatco sharpening system vs sharpmaker? 75$ budget

[SBaker34]

I was going to buy a sharpmaker but I simply don't have enough knives to justify buying a sharpmaker and diamond stones I am strongly considering a clamp system so I have some money left for some cheap knives and so I can reprofile them can I get a hair popping edge with practice using an ultra fine lansky stone?

 

[R Mccann]

I like the Gatco. Its nod diamond but works great.

 

[Hitzy]

All depends on what you want to do, and how much time you want to spend on a knife.
Personally, I find the sharpmaker is really only good for keeping a sharp knife sharp. You are not going to remove a lot of material or change edge profiles with it.
Lansky works well for changing angles, or putting a mirror finished edge on a blade. The course stones cut quickly, and the 1000 grit ultra fine really polishes well. What it kind of sucks at is touching up a sharp knife....something you can do on the sharpmaker in 10 seconds will take you 5 minutes with the Lansky. I use a cheap Lansky pocket sharpener ($5) that has small ceramic sticks for touching up blades.

 

[RevDevil]

Have a look at the 8" DMT dual side bench stones. They come with a base, ready to go:

 

[devinsdad]

I bought a Lansky 5-stone sharpener and I think it works great. The limiting factor seems to be the size of the blade and the edge. By edge I mean it has to have a 90 degree edge where the clamp goes for it to get a "bite" on the knife. I have a CRKT with a false edge on the spine and it is useless for it. There simply isn't any place for the clamp to go. While it works great for pocket knives, anything much larger is a PITA.

 

[Jason B.]

DMT aligner

 

[Sep]

DMT Aligner Quick Edge Kit (clamp, coarse stone, and fine stone) : $40
DMT 4" extra extra coarse stone - WS4XX: $17
DMT 4" extra extra fine stone - A4EE : $16
Total cost for a DMT clamp system with 4 diamond stones: $73

You won't regret it, especially when you intend to reprofile your knives.

 

[cziv]

DMT Magna Guide; diafold stones detach and can be used for camping, in your kit bag, freehand sharpening. :thumbup:

 

[SBaker34]

What's the biggest knife I can do with a dmt aligner?

 

[richw]

if you look around you can get the 4 stone aligner kit for about $50-55..

 

[SBaker34]

Ill probably get the DMT aligner depending on how big of a knife it can sharpen.

 

[cziv]

What's the biggest knife I can do with a dmt aligner?

As big as you want, just raise the anglebecause of the distance to the edge will change from a shorter blade. Of course you might have to duct tape clothes hanger cheater bars to your rods for those super wide blades for beheading people..

 

[Jason B.]

Biggest blade? about 8in long and 1/4in thickness. any longer and you get to far out of the reach of the rod/stone. Over 1/4 thick and you will have problems with not being able to clamp onto the blade.

These are limitations of any clamp type sharpener.

 

[Turbo Tension]

DMT Aligner Quick Edge Kit (clamp, coarse stone, and fine stone) : $40
DMT 4" extra extra coarse stone - WS4XX: $17
DMT 4" extra extra fine stone - A4EE : $16
Total cost for a DMT clamp system with 4 diamond stones: $73

You won't regret it, especially when you intend to reprofile your knives.

Does the DMT clamp work with Tanto blades?

 

[Jason B.]

Yes, it works with tantos