Last year I invested in all the ingredients to sharpen with the
sandpaper method (a piece of plate glass, honing guide, and lots of
sandpaper from 600 to 2000 grit). After using this method for a year,
I've concluded that I go through way too much sandpaper to make it
economical. It seems to me that the automotive sandpaper I use
becomes useless after just a few passes over one spot, and I go
through a ton of it as a result. My question is, do others using this
method find this to be the case, or am I expecting too much from the
sandpaper. Secondly, what type of stones should I invest in instead
of sandpaper. I'm leading towards Japanese water stones, and what
combination of grits would suffice?