It was somewhere outside Barstow when "Dick Snyder"
wrote:

Speaking of sharpening, I have done a little research on this too and have
some more questions.

Yeah, well do about a dozen years research on it and then you'll be
_really_ confused over the options !

I see devices to hold the steel blade for sharpening,

Don't like them. They don't fit chisels, they don't fit wide plane
irons, the ones with narrow rollers groove the stones. The Veritas one
is about the best.

another device to hold it at a different angle for honing,

Honing is still at the same angle. The small shift to a steeper angle
is putting a "micro-bevel" onto it. This is a rather bad habit to get
into - it's useful, but makes sharpening at the real angle much
harder, if over-done. You're better learning to do a good job with a
single angle before you try.

For a plane iron on a flat stone, then you can quite easily "feel" the
angle and when you're holding the iron at the right angle. A cheap
brass angle gauge will allow you to measure what this is, and whether
it's right (a major chore in refurbing old planes).

You don't much care about the angle anyway. Get it vaguely right, then
worry about getting it flat and consistent. The wrong angle, done
well, will work pretty well for you.

As to the stone itself, then the favourites round here are Scary
Sharp, waterstones and maybe diamond stones.

Scary Sharp is quick and uses cheap materials.

Waterstones are a really good method, but a little fussy for a quick
touch up on one tool. They work better on harder steels, which is nice
for Japanese tools or A2.

Diamond stones are expensive and need as much care in looking after as
waterstones. The cheap ones aren't much good.

Leonard Lee's sharpening book is a great investment.