as much as you're in to knives, you'll probably want to eventually get a belt sander. Harbor Freight sells them for about 40 bucks now. You'll spend another 35 on belts and compound from a place like Lee Valley. Then..buy some cheap machetes to practice on. I bought like 10 Tramontina's for 45 bucks and have been honing (pun?) my skills. I'm still having a problem keeping the points from rounding off on some, but I can see the improvement with practice.

You can also send them to Horn Dog if he's still taking customers, which I may still do for things like my bushwacker. After you see the kind of edge he can put on with a belt sander, you'll flip. It's very much worth the money he charges imo until you get the hang of it.