I’ve got a few nice kitchen knives that I feel I should be looking after a bit better than I currently do. I also fancy having a go at using a whetstone or similar as I like a nice sharp knife. Currently I’ve got one of those sharpening gadgets that you drag the blade through.

Would a cheap £20 double sided job be a good starting point and are there any brands I should look at or avoid?

Ta.

That depends on the grit and what you intend to do …

£20 double sided is fine if you just want to mess around and to train your sharpening skills.

Plenty at aximinster

I would get any of the Japanese stone with the following grits:

1. 800
2. 1000
3. 2000
4. 4000
5. 8000
6. Leather

😀

If your knives are already sharp then you don’t need a Whetstone, a sharpening steel would be of more use as they are designed to keep an edge rather than to actually sharpen.

That being said I’ve got something like this

http://www.johnlewis.com/kai-shun-combi-whetstone/p491217

for sharpening knives although I rarely use it. Whilst I have been tempted to get a leather strop (just because) it really isn’t necessary.