[jyl]

Sorry, I don't know anything about it.

Edit: Darisc, if I recall right you have a beautiful set of Shun knives. In my opinion you should learn to sharpen them with stones.

I am no expert on stones, have a synthetic waterstone about 1,500 grit (paid about $35), Arkansas Wa****a stone (something like 800 grit), and an Oregon Stone (180 grit and 220 grit sides). The Oregon Stone only gets used for repairing or reshaping a chipped/really dull blade, I've learned it is too coarse for routine honing of a well-cared-for blade. Also have a grooved steel, but would prefer a smooth one (Forschner makes one, $19 on Amazon).

As an artist, you have the hand-eye coordination and the hand steadiness to learn sharpening on a stone. After a little practice, you will get a polished and very sharp edge. Plus it is sort of meditative.

Why not go to a good knife store and ask to see two synthetic waterstones, one around 1,000 grit and one around 2,000, for about $30-40 each? Waterstones can be crazy expensive and I know the Japanese knife geeks will say you must have the $500 waterstones, but they'll also sneer at your Shuns (and will double-sneer at anything I have) so don't get carried away.