DMT AHF Aligner Interchangeable Stone Holder with Fine Stone

This thing looks pretty cheesey in the photos -- and in real life -- but surprisingly it seems to work well! I have a favorite 15 degree santoku which was losing a bit of its sharpness, so I dialed this in for the thickness of my resilient bench strop doped with green stropping compound, using a 15 angle guide I cut out of wood, and then did a half dozen alternating side stropping passes. And the sharpness picked up very nicely. Using this with my stones and bench strop, the short length of the clamp means that I can only use about half the length of my stones and bench strop, so that is a decided disadvantage. I usually stone and strop perpendicular to the blade edge, but because of the short clamp with this I may have to switch over to 45 degrees ala Bob Kramer. In any case this tool is a great value!

I used this outstanding little kit to put a very nice micro bevel on my Kershaw 9000, my Dads Sheepdog XL. I even used this to sharpen a couple Japanese chief knives that a client brought by and he was pleased to say the least. This kit pairs extremely well with a digital magnetic angle finder.If you understand sharpening and know how to properly sharpen knives this kit is a very nice, very easy and extremely versatile tool to have.I must say it is a much better option than the first one DMT released with the magnit. Awesome tool to have when you are out and about. Other than this just bring a little strop and you have yourself an amazing little bag of tricks, literally.If you don’t know what you are doing or the fundamentals of sharpening you can still take advantage of this tool but if you do know, than you have yourself a great mobile sharpening kit that can be set up in no time.You can’t go wrong with this thing. And you definitely won’t regret the purchase if you are serious about sharping. There is currently nothing that comes close to how compact and easy this is to use.

Overall I like this guide very much and have recommended it to those (women) who want sharp knives but would have difficulty doing them by hand. The guide is very easy to use and you can get stones that fit it that go to extra extra fine. With that stone even an unpracticed person can put an edge on a blade that comes close to a shaving edge. Very good product, very easy for anyone to put a proper edge on a knife. Most people, first time out, should be able to use this guide. With a little help, and a couple of short demonstrations, even someone who has never sharpened a single knife in their lives, and is worried to do so, could do a good job using this guide.This guide kit comes in several different versions. Most have more stones and accessories than the kit listed here.Two small problems though:It is difficult to put a low angle edge on a small knife such as a pairing knife. The jaws of the guide where they clamp onto the blade get in the way. It is not really necessary for that low of an angle though.When used as a guide for a bench stone, I wish the adjustable legs were a little more sturdy and stayed in place better than they do. In the half dozen times that I've used the guide in this way, it hasn't really caused me a problem though, but I have to watch the legs.Update 11-5-10I may have found a significant flaw in using diamond stones to sharpen knives and tools. I am not an expert at this, and I have not seen this mentioned anywhere else, so take it with a grain of salt.The edge of the knives that I have been sharpening, while sharp, do not hold that sharp edge very long.First, no matter how well you sharpen an edge, it is not perfect. The edge has little microscopic teeth on it. Similar to a saw. These `teeth' on a knife are not uniform in size, shape, and spacing, as on a saw. Nor are they rigid as on a saw. On a knife, when you cut something, these weak little teeth bend this way or that way, and the knife begins to feel dull.My theory:Those little bits of diamond grit on a diamond stone are, as you know, very, very hard. They cut very fast. They also cut very deep. They make deeper little grooves, on the beveled edge, than any other type of sharpening stone. These deeper grooves make larger teeth on the edge of the knife. A larger tooth is inherently weaker, and will bend more easily. Also, without going into great detail, the deeper grooves cause each little tooth to have less physical support, making them weaker still. They will bend even more easily.No matter what you use to sharpen an edge, those little teeth are created. They are always present. It appears to me that a diamond grit stone causes weaker teeth that bend more easily. The result is that the edge does not stay sharp as long as when other sharpening materials are used.More comment:Because diamond stones sharpen so fast and so easily, I still like them, and will still use them. I may try to find some other sharpening stone to use as a final sharpening step, to put a more `finished' edge on a knife.

Esta guia da DMT é de boa qualidade, mas tem ao menos dois problemas:1- Os pinos que regulam o ângulo de afiação não ficam bem presos, e durante a afiação eles soltam fazendo com que a faca fique com um ângulo menor em relação a pedra. Poderia ter um parafuso para travar ele na regulagem desejada e evitar isso. O que eu fiz foi colocar uma fita isolante prendendo os pinos, resolveu.2- Se usar pedras de espessuras diferentes (por exempo uma pedra grossa mais espessa, uma média diamantada da DMT que tem pouca espessura e uma fina de espessura média), dificilmente vai ser possível ajustar a guia para ter o mesmo ângulo de afiação em todas elas. As regulagens da guia ocorrem em saltos relativamente grandes, e a regulagem ideal para outra pedra pode estar entre duas regulagens possíveis. Então o ângulo vai ser diferente. Seria melhor se a regulagem pudesse ser feita de forma contínua, para chegar no ângulo exato. Uma forma de contornar este problema é colocar um pedaço de madeira ou outro suporte qualquer debaixo das pedras menos espessas para que fiquem na mesma altura da pedra mais espessa.Mas no geral, é uma boa guia de ângulo de afiação. Com algumas melhorias ficaria excelente.

I used once for now, better than expected.

la idea es buena, no está mal, te ayuda a dar y mantener un ángulo correcto.aunque debido al grosor del plástico, SI LAS TIJERAS SON DE HOJA FINA (de peluquería en este caso) NO ES FÁCIL encontrar el punto de sujeción adecuado, pues el plástico dificulta el contacto con la piedra de afilado, PERO SE PUEDE.

I bought this for sharpening pocket knives. I wanted to get a 15 degree bevel, but with the smaller blades it won’t go below 18 degrees or you’ll be grinding the bottom of the aligner itself.

I purchased this to go with my DMT sharpening blocks. It works well and serves it's purpose as intended, however it does seem a little bit flimsy. As another reviewer has pointed out, the nub for the notched height adjustment does raise some concerns.I have since learnt to sharpen knifes by hand without using the blade guide, and I feel like it's just as fast and precise. All in all, a good purchase but a little overpriced.