Lubricant in my experience is somewhat of a personal preference item, there are tons of good ones out there (and bad ones too) -- ones to perhaps do a little research on would be "Nano-Oil" or "Liberty Oil Products" I'm sure lots of folks have other suggestions, those two are just the ones I use frequently. I wanted to learn how to sharpen my own knives and was wondering what the community thought was the best setup. I've heard a bit about DMT benchstones and the KME sharpening system. I'm biased towards the KME system since I'm a total n00b who knows nothing about getting the right angle.

You need to follow the "curve" / belly of the edge when sharpening on the sharpmaker, and by doing so lift the handle of the knife in the process. I was also told about the Work Sharp precision adjust sharpener, but it looks like you can only use their proprietary stones and it kinda seems like cheap Walmart crap vs something that I could use for years. Hello folks. I have a vast knowledge deficit when it comes to sharpening. In particular, from various readings, I'm getting the (perhaps wrong-headed) idea that there are steels that are ceramic "friendly" and steels that are not, that should rather be sharpened with diamond or CBN instead. I totally agree with virtually everything you just stated. I've yet to find a blade steel that couldn't be sharpened with Spyderco's 204 Sharpmaker. Now I've told everyone who ever did a thread on the Sharpmaker that you should buy all the extra stones they have available for that kit i.e. the Ultra-Fine, CBN, diamond ect. Because for it to be a complete kit the old adage "The More The Merrier" certainly applies in this case. Try using alternating passes when you sharpen, with some strokes going heel to tip, and others going tip to heal. The theory is when you do this it makes it easier to hit the entire serration on both sides. (I do not use this method, but others have success with it.)

Use

Flipping the base over and it has two grooves that are close together for sharpening smaller tools like chisels.

Sharpening is not a race. Take your time and just be consistent. Even if the angle is off by a little bit you can still finish with a nice sharp hair popping edge. In addition to using the stones in the jigs, you can also use them as bench stones, and apparently you can use them to sharpen scissors. I free hand sharpen with the Sharpmaker stones all the time. I just hold the rod in one hand and sharpen with the other. That is the nice thing about the Sharpmaker system, you can use the guides to get a feel for how to sharpen, and then use it to learn how to freehand sharpen. I knew your vid already before, tried your method with the just one sharpmaker rod, and prefer it over the method shown in the sharpmaker instructional DVD (which I just watched again, had already forgotten many of the things said there) Alex (Bloke), I hope you don´t mind me trying to explain that once more for those REALLY new to the matter. The Sharpmaker and Spyderco ceramic bench stones are excellent and I have used them for almost 30 years. Be careful not to press to hard and use too long or you will easily form a tough small burr, then complain it does not work very well on the newest tool steels.

Should you decide to go for the serrated Delica: I'd take the wharncliffe blade. Why? Cause the serrated (!) VG10 Delica only comes in sabre grind, while the wharnie version of it is in full flat grind - better cutter, and more useful, finer tip imo.