I have sharpened SY knives with ceramic rods, diamond coated rods, and even a stone. Mostly, I use my belt sander since it does a convex edge. I use the ceramic rods for touch ups. A sharp flat edge still beats a dull convex edge, so I don't think its that big a deal on the final edge. The mouse pad and sandpaper method seems to be popular, but I've never tried it. A lot of people just use their regular sharpening methods that they would use on any knife.