There are tons of videos and quite a lot of literature on the best way to sharpen knives. Most will give you super complicated instructions and precise measurements. There are also tons of gadgets that cost tons of money. They all claim to give you this magical ability to sharpen a knife to such a degree that it can split an atom!
I'm from a different camp altogether. I neither understood, cared for, or have seen the use for this mystical razor edge. I grew up in the woods. My pocket knives lost their tips. My hunting knives were stuck into trees. When I was in the middle of something and needed to put it down, I would throw it into the ground. The dirt makes a great temporary sheath. I'd hammer it into things, pry things, use them to dig a stubborn rock out of my fire pit, and every other "unholy" use for a knife. You know what? It would still gut fish and skin critters just fine.
My take on knives and sharpening is simple. The only real trick is to get comfortable, find your angle, move your blade across the whetstone and repeat that same exact motion. Concentrate on what you are doing and just repeat the motions. That's it. The rest is just moving metal. Since I treat my knives like a tool and not a sacred artifact, I start with a really rough stone like 400 or 600 grit. A couple dozen passes on that will take the dings out. Then I jump up to a 3000 grit and finish it out.
I do this about once per month. That gives me a tomato knife. By that I mean that it will bite into a tomato and cut through it without having to saw at it. That's all the sharper I will ever need. I've used a 1000/6000 grit set quite a bit as well. I liked that set, but it just took too long and never really gave me any practical improvement. My favorite by far was a 400/3000 stone that I lost because the rum made me drop it.
On a side note, most stones will walk you through some complicated prep work. You have to soak it for 10 minutes, dunk it twice in distilled water, sprinkle virgin tears over it, and gently rub it with an olive branch before using it. I've found that to be nonsense. Just slap the stone down and get to work (gently, because you'll break it). Using oil or water does help, but isn't necessary.
TLDR: All that ritual is unnecessary. Just get a low grit and a medium grit and get to work. Find your angle, draw the blade across, and repeat that exact motion. That's it. No ritual. All that ritual does is turn a quick 5 min task into a daunting hour long chore. There are some beautiful knives out there, but work knives are made for work. Don't waste your time treating a tool like a precious artifact and don't waste your time getting an atom splitting edge when you're just chopping some carrots. (unless that's your thing. In which case, go for it.)
