This link:
http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsharp-fundamentals.shtml

has been able to help me understand how to sharpen a knife.

Before I read this websites information I was always unable to use a stone in the correct manner. I used to try to sharpen a knife like I saw in the movies, by just pulling the blade against the stone one way, then flipping the blade over and stroking the other side. Back-and-forth I would go like this for hours, and yet the blade never seemed to be getting sharp?

Oh sometimes by accident I would get part of the blade sharp, and I would then try to use the sharpen section , but soon that little sharpened section of the knife was just as dull as the rest and I would be back to doing the "stroke-flip-stroke" stuff again ....and never getting anywhere!


Then I found this information:: http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsharp-fundamentals.shtml
and the doors of understanding were opened!

I make a convex edge hunting knife in my free time. it's convex edge is well past the ability of most of the sharpeners that use a jig to hold the correct angle.

Yet now with just a stone, I can place a good edge on any one my knives in just a few mins of work. This has help me in my knife making, as well as made me look like the "Knife God" to my co-workers who have dropped by to learn how to sharpen a knife.

One guy said he had a knife that has never been sharp from the day he first used it. He was all mad because he spent a lot of money on this knife and was embarassed by it's lack of a good sharp edge. I told him to bring it over and I would help him learn how to sharpen it.
When he showed up , at first he just wanted me to sharpen it for him, But I told him, "I will not be with you in the field, and so you need to learn how to do this " and we went over the information in the webpage
then we sat down and within a little while he was stunned how sharpen he alone had be able to get that darn knife!

He had been cussing at that knife for years, yet the knife was not at falt!,,all he needed was a few moments with a stone, and an understanding of how to use a stone, and he had it down!

If you're gonna be using your knives to butcher, a steel that works is another item that keeps that knife sharp. Make a few light strokes on it and you're good to go again. I was always a "stone" man myself, usually soap and water while I'm sharpening it. For some I have a real fine Arkansas stone that I use oil on.