I Second the sand paper and mousepad for smaller knives. Chef choice is good for large knives with straight edges, kitchen knives, boning knives,large fillet knives, fast and puts a good edge on. For intermediate sized knives(i.e buck 110 folder to 7 inch fillet knives) a simple wood block with angled holes for ceramic crock sticks works good and is cheap. This is the simplest method and most foolproof for a beginner and probably what you should get. Just move in a straight down slicing motion and it sharpens the knife at the right angle, just takes time. But for smaller knives and knives with variable edges the sandpaper and mouse pad seem to work best and you get all you need for 5 bucks. All of the other methods require some cash outlays, some quite sizeable.Stay away from those carbide cutter sharpeners, they can really screw up a good blade. They are only good for bait knives or chinese kitchen knives and such which will be tossed at the end of their short useful lives. IMO