Save for DMT diamond duosharp or diasharp or get a DMT aligner

[Bladenoobie1]

For the future I'd like to invest in some diamond sharpening gear to be able to re-profile high wear steel and set a bevel. I'm okay with my freehand, been getting better with practice but diamond whetstones are quite expensive. The aligner kit from http://www.cutleryshoppe.com/ has stones from extra-course to extra-extra fine all for around $50. Would it be in my best interest to save for a dia or duosharp stones or will the aligner suit my needs?

- Bladenoobie1

 

[Jason B.]

I've been down this road and ended up with diasharp plates from XXC to EEF, still one of the best investments in sharpening I have ever made.

 

[HoosierQ]

I've been down this road and ended up with diasharp plates from XXC to EEF, still one of the best investments in sharpening I have ever made.

^^^^ This could not have been spoken more articulately. Get the diasharp plates and you can, with practice, sharpen at will.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

The Dia-Sharps are great, indeed. For first starting out though, if I had to do it over again, the C/F Duo-Sharp and an Aligner clamp is a great bang-for-the-buck combo. An awful lot can be accomplished with those two items alone.

Other hones for additional refinement (EF/EEF), or for more aggressive work (XXC, XC) can be acquired as it becomes convenient to do so, in either the Duo- or Dia-Sharp lines (though, I don't know if the EEF is currently available in the Duo-Sharp).

 

[Bladenoobie1]

I can't really justify a dia-sharp right now with the amount of knives I have, so I've decided to go with the DMT aligner delux kit from cutlery shoppe. I don't have any long knives and the ones I do have are carbon steel and gets a great edge from my alum ox stone with my arkansas tri-hone. Considering knives I'll be sharpening will be pocket knives sub 4" the DMT should work fine. From what I've read and what people have told me, the DMT Dia and Duosharps are great stones, but simply I can justify the purchase right now.