I have gifted and recommended the Work Sharp grinder to people. But these are almost always non-knife people whose kitchen knives are about as sharp as clay. They will run one through there every six months or so when they remember.
If you have the desire to regularly maintain your edges then I personally wouldn't go this route. I just don't think it is necessary and I think the trade-offs make it not worth it. It's not a bad system by any means, but if you are the type to put in a little effort around this then I think you can do better.
I do not like fixed crock-stick style systems like the Work Sharp. Very limited. Yes some have more angle options but your still limited to those.
Guided systems are excellent and I would only advise getting a quality one. They all have pluses and minuses. I have a KME and it is excellent. One thing a guided system can really do, is build your confidence. But again, they have limitations.
If you want to get into this cheap, given the types of knives you mentioned then this is what I recommend:
1. Norton JB8 combination stone. $30USD
2. Sharpening oil. $5-10USD
3. Red permanent marker. $3
You can make-shift a strop to start. And old belt works well or some denim wrapped around your stone. But if you want to buy one, by all means do.
Getting working edges is not voodoo. The marker will guide you on angle and we can all help you with that. Just pressure to keep things steady on the stone. No biggy. Raise a burr, switch sides, raise a burr, de-burr. That's the basics and those are the basics of all the systems. The only thing that changes is how you get there.
Learning to freehand opens up vast opportunities and you will always be able to adapt and build upon that skill. You won't care if a knife has a funky grind on the spine or what the edge angle is and with the addition of some diamond plates, you'll open to a huge range of steels.
If you want to delve into highly refined edges later on, then so be it. But just to get working edges and understand the fundamentals the above will get you there. And you have a vast resource of some of the most helpful and knowledgeable sharpening folks in the world right here.
Gotta acknowledge a good answer when I see one...
