I've never been very good at it which means that all of my knives are pretty much dull now. I want to order a stone online and have it shipped to me here but I need to know the technique to get a good edge.

Tag because I have no idea either.

You need to ask Simms13.  That guy can make any knife scary sharp.

Get a Spyderco Sharpmaker for quick results.

Old fashioned flat Arkansas oil stone to learn on at your leisure.

tri stone

if you dont mind accidentally your finger off once you get a lightsaber edge

Wicked Edge is one choice, or Smith's if you don't want to spend that much.





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Ditto on that. I can put on pretty decent, and I got 2 left hands.

The method in the old boy scout book is the best word description of how to sharpen a knife.

Even if they are an anti-gay paramilitary American youth organization, they can teach a boy to sharpen a knife, go figure.

Just in case you don't have the old book,

http://www.bsatroop780.org/skills/KnifeAxeandSaw.html

Just for fun, read the first paragraph about "Totin' Rights" for this troop..........

I use a coarse and then a fine diamond stone.  I'm certainly no professional, but I can make a knife shave your arm pretty easily.  The trick is keeping the same angle for every stroke.  They make little tools you can clamp on your knife to keep the angle, but I just free hand it.  

I usually start by taking about 5 strokes on one side then five strokes on the other until you can tell it's starting to take an edge.  Once I get it to that point I stay with one side until I can rake my fingernail across the edge on the opposite side I'm working and feel a "lip" beginning to form.  Once that "lip" has formed on the whole length of the blade, I switch to the other side and do the same thing.  I then go to the other side and do it again, but this time it only takes 2-3 strokes.  I repeat until it forms a "lip" on one stroke.  I then move to the fine stone and repeat.  It's the fine stone that REALLY makes a knife sharp, but you have to work it down with a coarse stone.

The steeper the angle you hold, the more durable the edge, but not quite as sharp. (still sharp though)  The flatter you hold the knife to the stone, the sharper the edge.  I'm guessing about a 30 degree angle is idea for your average everyday carry knife.

Buy a Lansky sharpener and you are done

This.



You have to try to screw it up and it will last a very long time.



 

Fixed





 

Read the above, use an Arkansas stone and a strop/strip of leather to finish it off on.  If you're good enough (WHEN you're good enough if you practice enough) you will need the leather to wear off the rolled edge of the last stroke.  Learn to "double bevel," too.  My grandfather taught me on a dry stone, an oiled stone and a leather belt.  When I sharpen my knives about once every 2-3 months, all my family and friends bring me everything from little Swiss Army knives to Chef's knives to diving knives to Ka-Bars...  

After awhile, it gets to be quite a chore.

Some good advice so far, but my preferred method is a barber's strop with some fine sandpaper stuck to one side of it.

Once you get used to convex edges you never go back.

Due to the advice given in this thread

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=1143717



I picked one up today at Academy for $19.95 and I'm actually surfing arfcom while I take a break from sharping a cheapo hunting knife.  So far, so good.  Will see what else I can put a decent edge on before taking on some more expensive blades.  I've damn near ruined a few nice knives that had to be re-edged/fixed by someone that actually knew what they were doing
 

This.
The type of steel  has a lot to do with how well it will hold an edge.
Holding a consistent angel is the key.

cheap ass wet stone. rough side at 30 degrees fine side at 35 .



durable sharp edge.





It isn't a razor blade but it is fuckin sharp and durable. takes a little practice to get the angles but not much.  it's cool to have a razor blade edge but in reality it is pointless unless you use a pocket knife to shave.

Thanks for all the replies gentlement. I just ordered the Spyderco so hopefully in a couple weeks I'll get it.

There is a very good book called The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening.

It pretty much covers it all. The book cover shows the author shaving his beard with a double-bitted logging axe. That ol' boy knows his stuff!

After you get knife sharpening down, take a little time to learn how to sharpen drill bits on a grinder.... same principle, it's not hard.

You'll appreciate the shit out of it later... it will save you multiple trips to the store, and boo koo bucks.

Your stone will come with instructions. Follow them. Stay safe.

In the meantime, have a local sharpen your knife for you.

I go old school also but these are amazing.

There are too many methods and devices to simply list them and provide good information. I'm on my phone and don't want to type everything out from it. I'd be happy to reply via pm any information folks would like to know about sharpening. You can also check out "Keeping Sharp" over on Knifeforums. I'm the mod over there.

wow.........sounds like there are several lawyers in that troop.