For a badly mangled edge, I use a 1"X30" belt sander with a 320 or 400 grit belt on it - and a light touch.
For carbon steels, I like a Norton Lily White Washita, followed by Arkansas stones - generally white hard and translucent. A Norton fine India stone is a good option.
For hard stainless steels, I like the Spyderco ceramic stones, from medium to ultrafine.
I usually use a double sided strop between sharpening. This has 1200 grit valve grinding compound (Clover) on one side and Norton very fine diamond paste on the other. If you have a good strop, you won't need to use stones very often.
For carbon steels, I like a Norton Lily White Washita, followed by Arkansas stones - generally white hard and translucent. A Norton fine India stone is a good option.
For hard stainless steels, I like the Spyderco ceramic stones, from medium to ultrafine.
I usually use a double sided strop between sharpening. This has 1200 grit valve grinding compound (Clover) on one side and Norton very fine diamond paste on the other. If you have a good strop, you won't need to use stones very often.