Reply by yrob

I use japanese waterstones, 1000, 4000 and 8000. I flatten them pretty quickly with a DMT dia-flat lapping plate. I draw wavy lines on the stone with a pencil then use the diamond plate to remove the marks. Takes just a few strokes.
I prefer waterstones to oil stones because its way less messy. They cut relatively fast and produce a very keen edge.

-- Yves