Knife sharpening help

[WalkaboutOZ]

I am not very good at sharpening knives, I have always had a good friend of mine who is a real whizz at sharpening put a scary edge on my knives. Sadly he is not with us anymore. But to stay on subject, I need help choosing a knife sharpening system. What would you guys & girls recommend. I've got about $200 give or take to play with. And I'm guessing it would be a smart idea to practice on a few of my cheapo Smith & Wesson knives for a while before I try my higher end knives

Any help much appreciated

 

[Grease]

Practice on the cheapest knife you've got before working with nicer stuff, is what I've always been told.

It's probable that I don't have a clue what I'm doing or talking about, but I've always been able to get nice edge using Smith's Arkansas stones. And they are cheap, too, which means you can buy a spare knife with the extra cash

 

[Never Dull]

Many options exist. Do you want a powered system or a manual system? From a Harbor freight belt grinder and a handful of belts for around $100 all in to a high end wicked edge manual system for around $380 that will whittle hair. What types of blades and what types of edges do you want?