R_H,
Thanks for the promptly reply, this is not a cheap knife is a Gene. I feel that the knife has lost the edge due to use, until now I didn't had the need to even touch up the edge. Sunday, I was processing a hog and noted that the blade has lost the edge the knife felt like a dog having to struggle to get It to cut. I use the work sharp in all my other store acquired knives, none of them are D2. I have few Arkansas stone in medium fine and the Lansky(sp) system. Will that work?
Regards
Lou
Since you have the Lansky,give it a try first. The problem with a powered belt sander is that you can do more than you want or is necessary very quickly. Since the knife hasn't been abused and it already has a good thin edge geometry,I bet the Lansky will work wonders,as long as the stones aren't dished out or gummed up.
I use a Bob Dozier YPS for most hunting -skinning chores. It is D2 as well and should be very close to your Gene Ingram in hardness and geometry. My favorite sharpener for it is a well used red DMT stone. I would highly recommend picking one up. If you do,just use it a bit on kitchen knives or whatever until it stops shedding grit. At that point it will be just right and a couple passes should restore your knife to shaving sharp with a nice toothy cutting edge. The diamonds on a DMT will cut harder steels much better than an Arkansas stone which is basically for polishing an edge. Your Arkansas might work well too though since you likely don't need much.
The main problem I see most people have when free hand sharpening is that they don't use a steep enough angle and never actually touch the edge,but only the shoulder of the secondary angle. You can color the very edge with a sharpie if you need to,and examine the edge with a magnifying glass to help learn the angle for free hand sharpening. I recommend learning free hand sharpening or getting a good guided tool like the Edge Pro mentioned over a Work Sharp. Yes,the Work Sharp will make a sharp edge but it's not a superior method to free hand or guided sharpening,and it could ruin a good knife a whole lot quicker when done wrong.