Now I am a newbie so please don't yell at me too much if I have done no research to find that is topic has been brought up too many times.

I am not the best at sharpening (and that is like saying putting a mosque by ground zero is not the best idea) but I would like to hear from some of you what you use for stones and maybe a technique. To keep all my folders sharp I use a Lansky sharpening kit and actually it works great for blades up to about 4 inches. But for any of my larger fixed blades I have never got the best results with it.

I just want to know how to put a good sharp edge on a knife that I will use. I am a huge fan of my knives being sharp as we all are. I can worry about convex edges and all that later but is it the stones that matter, or am I not using a good angle, and how can you tell what is a good angle, and be able to make your strokes consistent? Stropping? Any tips or "secrets" would be awesome.

Maybe even if someone knows or a good book or video that they learned from would be great.