I want to learn to sharpen my own knives

Congratulations, sharpening knives by hand is THE most rewarding experience that I have ever encountered.
It is relaxing, inexpensive and really not all that difficult with patience, practice and then some more of each.
The coolest thing about knife sharpening is that you can make your knives sharper than when you bought them, right at home. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be sharpening every knife you can get your hands on.
This is what you need:
1. A knife - it's dull.........even if you just took it out of the box it could get sharper, within a month it will definitely need to be sharpened. (MAC knives are one of the sharpest OOTB (Out of the box) that are available, these will be fine for a while)
2. Japanese water stones (oil stones work yes, I use and recommend water stones). You NEED one but you should have two or three. If going for two which is fine, you need a medium stone, about 800-1200 grit and a fine stone, 2000 and up. A coarse stone removes metal fast (500 grit and below) so you need to be careful with these when learning.
3. Watch the Videos by Jon Broida that I have linked earlier, or just go to Japanese Knife Imports and select his media links. His are the best sharpening videos that I have seen. I have shared dozens of emails with Jon and I trust him completely. I sharpen knives as described in the videos and it works. or, go to YouTube and search for KORIN knife sharpening, another excellent demonstration.
4. If I was just starting and I was on a budget I would go to Lee Valley and pick up an #800 grit King Stone and a #2000 grit Bester Stone.
5. With just these two stones, you can take your dull knives to the point where you will not believe is possible. If you want to further refine the edge, get a #4000 grit Imanishi stone too and the edge and polish that comes from that will blow you away.

When you are ready to start, if you have any questions just send me an email at sharpknives@me.com.
I can walk you through it, if you want to come and visit me for a lesson, (best option) that is also very possible. Private lessons are available at very reasonable rates, cheaper than most gadgets.

I can help you, you can toss away any gadgets that you own.......they are gadgets and you don't need them, they are nothing more than Frustration Builders, you are fooling yourself if you think they work. (Ask me how I know this :)  )

I'm there for you, if you want to learn you know how to get hold of me. 902 225 0579