It’s a bit of a process to turn some blade steel into a razor sharp edge. We don’t expect you to have a linishing machine that grinds a blunt piece of Japanese steel into a precision edge. We use many belt grits to remove the bulk of material, going down to finer and finer grits before finally finishing that edge off on a leather strop. By the time you get your personalised pocket knife, all of the hard work has been done to the blade. You only need to maintain that blade edge now and then, which is best done with a diamond encrusted sharpening stone, a bit of honing oil and for the final touch, a leather strop. The backside of a leather belt will work just fine also. You don’t want to remove any bulk material from your blade, that was done during manufacturing. You’re simply maintaining the edge now. A light hone with your sharpening stone on both sides of the edge, and a few swipes on the leather is more than enough to keep your blade crisp. Premium blade steels will show surface corrosion if not kept dry and oiled. Always dry your blade steel after cleaning and store them dry.