I’m looking for a better knife sharpener for my hard steel chef knife. I think whetstones are the way to go, but most of the sets I see are 4 double sided stones. Do I need that many stones?
Is there a totally different type of sharpener that you have had success with?
Edit: I should add that I like my knife very sharp, and I have a few tiny chips in the cutting edge from a cheap drag-through sharpener.
I only use stones for wood chisels. I find that level of edge is not particularly useful for kitchenware. I just use a set of cheap diamond blocks from AliEx ages ago. They are like 480/800/1200/3000 IIRC. I don’t use the 480 for kitchen knives. 3k is already close to passively dangerous level sharp. I have stones up to 8k, but the edge doesn’t last as long as a 3k, and the extra effort has no benefit for me.