A whetstone puts a better edge on a knife than any other method. The catch is the angle - the blade needs to be held at around 15 degrees, stroke after stroke, and getting it wrong is what puts most people off. The Season Knife Sharpening Guide takes care of it. It clips onto the spine of the blade and holds the angle for you; all that's left is to push the knife up and down the stone. The traditional alternative is judging the height against your thumb, which works until you've run your thumb along a whetstone forty times.