The single biggest improvement wasn’t a better whetstone, it was slowing down and maintaining a consistent angle instead of chasing a sharper edge with more pressure. A steady 17-degree angle on a mid-grit stone, unhurried, beat every rushed session I’d done before on a pricier stone.
I started marking the edge with a permanent marker before each sharpening session, a trick that shows exactly where the stone is actually making contact. The first few times, I discovered I was only sharpening the middle of the blade and barely touching the tip and heel.
A year in, my knives hold an edge noticeably longer, and it came down to technique, not equipment.