sharpening

It would be so awesome if I could get waterstones locally, but unless you live in a large city (and even then) the chances are slim.
 
Some hardware stores have them. Any woodworking specialty store is apt to have them. You can also get some from cutlery stores that sell Japanese knives.
You can find them at Amazon.com or you can try these places:

http://www.hidatool.com/woodpage/stones.html
http://www.highland-hardware.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=215
http://www.shaptonstones.com/
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=43072&category=1&SID=&ccurrency=2

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/...een=CTGY&Store_Code=toolshop&Category_Code=TH

http://shop.woodcraft.com/Woodcraft...=5AE584B1A4284574B1AC40F15B7F28DC&position=32

http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/search.exe?BP=1

http://www.japanese-knife.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Knife&Category_Code=HA

http://www.bladegallery.com/accessories/accessories.asp

http://www.japanwoodworker.com/dept.asp?dept_id=11464



For British readers
http://www.fine-tools.com/japwas.htm
http://www.shokunin.co.uk/shokunin.htm


sword polishing stones
http://www.ghost-cat.com/sharpeshoppe/japanese.htm
http://www.aquastoneinc.com/sharpening_stones.htm
http://www.shadowofleaves.com/polishing_stones.htm

info on sword polishing stones
http://johndswordpolishing.com/about/
http://www.nihontoantiques.com/polishing, step by step.htm

For finishing small blades EDM mold and diemaker stonese might be useful (sort of like unmounted versions of lansky stones)
http://www.congresstools.com/congresstools/catalog?action=getcat&parent=72
http://www.borideabrasives.com/bor_molddie_stones.html
http://www.gesswein.com/catalog/index.cfm?cat=1&sub=19&catalog=2&CFID=413564&CFTOKEN=99369092

the previous also carry diamond paste and rouge / lapping abrasives, as does:
http://www.gravescompany.com/polishin.htm
https://www.us-products.com/sitehtml/products/compslur.php
http://www.amlap.com/alw/page18.html

If you want to go crazy with the scarey sharp system and get diamond finishing film, this place has it
http://www.psidragon.com/store/enter.html

For buffing supplies
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/index.html#compound

for polishing up the handles etc.
http://www.cometobuy.com/elitefin/Micro_Mesh.asp?number=30
 
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Since the question of where is pretty much answered :D, the next question becomes which one to get. A single waterstone doesn't make much sense as you get the wonderful edge of a waterstone only by moving through the grids. While woodworkers recommend to roughly double the grid # each time. I think for a knife, where you remove much less material, you can at least roughly triple the grid number (e.g. 700, 2000, 6000 etc). A good and very affordable stone is a King combination stone 1000/6000 grid. That will get you started, especially if you add something coarse like a 120-320 stone. In general the coarser stones wear a lot quicker, but they are also a lot larger and cheaper.

Good luck!
 
For general purpose sharpening a good all in one grit is 1500, that is if you arent looking for the most polished edge, or are willing to use your sharpmaker as the final step. I personally prefer a medium finish on my edges, makes them more useful for cutting stuff like rope and especially nylon cord where a polished edge would tend to just slide. Strop them after the 1500 grit and you'll still get an edge that'll shave and pushcut fairly well. 4000 is about as high as I think you should go on cutlery, a nice polished razor edge but still has enough bite to make it useful.
 
Note: On that low priced natural Chinese stone from Woodcraft. This is a very very hard, dense stone that doesn't seem to form a slurry and cuts very very slowly. Almost have to use a nagura stone with it or it will seem to burnish rather than cut.
 
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