DMT (Diamond Machining Technology) ADELUXE Deluxe Aligner Kit, 3 Diamond Whetstone/1 Serrated Sharpener, Multicolor

Dull knives suck, and this kit is the fix for those of us who can't sharpen worth a hoot. Reading the other reviews, I also bought the black extra coarse stone to go along with the stones that come in the kit and it does make it much faster to set the edge initially. This isn't the only guided sharpening system in the world--and I'm sure most of them are similarly effective--but this is the only one with diamond hones at this price point, which makes it an excellent value in addition to its functional virtues. One criticism you'll see in many of the reviews is that the blade clamp is plastic, and people speculate that it will break easily. Well, I can tell you that I broke mine the first time I used it, although probably not where and how you'd think it most likely to break, and it was my fault for acting like a ham-fisted galoot. The angle adjusters that fit into the blade clamp have grooves that catch a pin in the cylinder on the clamp in which they slide. I managed to break off the pin inside one of those cylinders, rendering the angle adjuster more or less useless since it just slid up and down. While I waited for the replacement clamp I ordered to arrive, I simply put a small screw in it to hold it and used it like that. I haven't really gone after the kitchen knives yet, but all my pocket, utility, and hunting knives are now razor sharp. The knives that get the most use I touch up once a week or so with the two finest stones, which takes just a few minutes per knife while watching TV. February 2013 update: I added a second clamp to use for longer knives--I just stick both clamps on there and get to sharpening without having to move the clamp. Over the course of the year I've added three stones to the kit: black (extra coarse), silver (extra extra coarse), and beige (extra extra fine). The first two take some drudgery out of getting the proper edge set on the knife, and the last puts it at a near razor like polish, ready for a few strokes on the strop for finishing.

I never really leave a review for any of my purchases but this sharpening system from DMT really exceeding my expectations so I want to let others know how good the aligner really is. I was on the fence about buying the aligner after reading the negative reviews. Most of the negative comments are about the edge guide attachment being flimsy. I've only had the aligner for a few days but I have sharpened five of my knives at a couple different angles and the edge guide performed flawlessly and I never felt that it was going to break or anything. I also sharpened a thick bladed military knife and the edge guide held it fine, you just have to follow the instructions and back out the brass screw. Excellent System! The stones included worked awesome... I reprofiled all my blades with the blue stone but the black extra coarse stone would have came in handy for the thick military knife... it took awhile to reprofile it with the blue stone. I always was VERY terrible at sharpening knives freehand and did more damage than sharpening.... after using the aligner all my knives are literally razor sharp and can easily shave hair from my arm and slice paper like butter.

JAN 2013 UPDATE Now I've owned this system for a bit over a year and used it very regularly on my own knives as well of those of friends and family and truly gotten very proficient at knife sharpening. So now my feelings now are that the stones are really all you need. The aligner really isn't necessary. It's truly easy enough to juse freehand sharpen using just the stones - and this is much faster than using them with the aligner. You can buy the stones separately, and save money. Larger is better so the 6" stones or 8" stones would be preferable. DEC 3 UPDATE: So now I have had this system for a month and used it regularly and become very adept at it's use. It's easy to learn on and use and my knives are sharper than ever, especially my Japanese knives - truly scary sharp. As to my critique - I maintain my original assessment. The guiding rod portion of the aligner is not long enough - they should add another 3 or 4 inches to it. This would be a really nice improvement for it's use on full sized knives (chef's knifes, nakiris, santokus - anything with a width of 2" or so. For smaller knives the aligner is fine as it is - steak knives, petty knives etc. For cleavers, you will only be able to engage 1/3 - 1/2 of your stones, as the rod will fall out of the guide if you try and go further. I suppose that it might be possible to extend the guide rod with a piece of stiff wire and electricians tape - but I'd rather not mess with it. I'm glad that I bought the xx-fine stone to go with it. The 8000 grit is a nice jump from the x-fine 1200, and is a reasonable upgrade for about $14 or so. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I've only had my set now for 4 days but I've sharpened EVERY knife that I own and that's a pretty significant amount. I even completely rebeveled my cleaver with a 24 degree (total) primary bevel and 32 degree micro-edge bevel. It is now RAZOR sharp ... equal to any of my non-Japanese blades. If you need to completely re-bevel your knives, the xx-coarse is helpful. Otherwise, you won't need that stone. The xx-fine stone is awesome - it really takes those edges to the next level. The key is use very little or no pressure with quick light strokes - let the diamonds do the work! Especially when using the x-coarse or coarse stones - they are very aggressive, especially the x-coarse. DMT could be better about posting more useful videos on youtube but whatever. I figured out a really good technique over the first day on my cheap knives and then made pretty quick work of everything after that. The Aligner could stand some improvement. My big complaint would be that the guide rod is simply too short when I'm doing larger knives. And really too short when doing cleavers. I'm only able to engage about half my stones when doing a cleaver. I'm considering using electricians tape to use some 12 or 10 guage wire to extend it a bit so that it can't slide out and I'd then get full use of my stones with larger blades. So 4 stars but not 5. The Aligner itself would need to be a better design. But it's good and functional. I'm pleased.

I have never been good at sharpening knives freehand but with this sharpener I have been able to put a shaving sharp edge on most of the knives I own. I still can't get a razor edge on my one crappy Gerber knife made from mystery steel but I believe that to be a product of the crappy steel. All of my other knives have taken an edge very well. Some other reviewers said the blade aligner was flimsy and broke easily but that hasn't been the case with mine, I think they must have been using it wrong. It is always a good idea to read the instructions. I would recommend getting the black extra corse stone if you have several knives you would like to sharpen/reprofile, I started out with just this set and ordered the black stone within two days because I was trying to sharpen over a dozen knives and it was taking too long to reprofile them all with the blue stone. I also got the brown extra fine stone and I would recommend it as well. I strop my blades on leather after finishing with the aligner set which I have found to be necessary for a razor edge, it is very easy to do I just use a scrap piece of leather and some Flitz non-abrasive polishing compound.

This kit is considerably cheaper than similar kits by Gatco or Lansky, yet delivers outstanding results. I used the kit the day I got it to sharpen my entire kitchen knife set - and it really didn't take very long to do so. Using the stones in the kit I was able to produce an edge easily the equal of the Wusthof ceramic sharpener I had been using - when I did a final hone with the "extra-extra-fine" tan DMT stone I bought at the same time, the blades became "scarey sharp". It was also really easy to produce a micro-bevel edge, which was impossible with the Wusthof. I had none of the issues cited by others - including with the serrated sharpener. All in all, very very pleased. (plus it has a lifetime no-BS warranty: if it busts, they fix it. Nice)

I have tried all kinds of electric and manual knife sharpeners and hands down this one works the best. It is easy to use. It is best to search the Internet to see what the angle should be. If you do that you will end up with some really sharp knives. It is easy to use and store. Everything fits in the bag so you can take it with you camping, fishing or where ever you might need to sharpen a knife. After using my knives friends have asked me if I would sharpen some of there knives. I bought the extra course stone also. This stone will get a really dull knife sharp and after flowing up with finer grits the knife will stay sharp for awhile unless you abuse it.

The DMT Aligner acts like the Lansky system, and boasts more ability to fine tune the angles... but the quality of materials is substandard and poorly designed. It's not completely worthless... if you have small EDC knives that have thin blade widths then you will be able to get a bite with the plastic clamp and sharpen that up, and with their stones (the best part of the kit), put a very nice edge on your blade. If you want to use this for anything more than a 2 1/2 - 3 inch blade, with any kind heft or thickness... forget it. And dont even begin to think you're gonna strap this onto something that has a unique design like a Ka-Bar with the blood groove or a Hissatsu. I thought the plastic construction would be a plus, avoid marring the finish on my blades, as it turns out, it cant get a bite, and just slips and slides all over the place and good luck not cutting your hands up trying to tighten it down. Not a complete piece of junk and epic waste of money... but not far from it either.

Inexpensive, well-made product. This sharpening kit works very well. I got it yesterday, along with the A4X (black, extra-course) and A4EE (tan, extra-extra fine) stones. To repair a damaged edge, you can use the included course (blue) stone, but the black works much faster when you have a bad edge to fix. The tan stone hones an already-sharp blade to a mirror-finish, razor edge. All the pieces, including the two extra stones, fit easily in the bag. All the knives in my house look and cut like new again, and I have tha bald spots where I shaved my arm to prove it.

Excelente afiador

Pas très précis quant à l’aiguisage, toutefois les pierres à diamant sont de très bonne qualité d’où l’attribution de 3 étoiles autrement l’évaluation aurait été plus basse

Chinese counterfeit, next to my original it shows clearly

Ich benutze das Set weitestgehend nur zu Haus. Alle was in der Küche geschärft werden muss, wird hier akkurat in den passenden Schliff gesetzt! Ob Taschenmesser oder das lange Filetiermesser, alles wird absolut hervorragend geschärft! Einfache Handhabung, nur zu empfehlen!

Schönes Schleifset, welches auch durch die beiliegende Tasche sehr kompakt ist und man es überall hin mitnehmen kann. Ich habe das Schleifsystem jetzt seit einem halben Jahr im Einsatz und kann nichts negatives Berichten.