It's really not that difficult. I pretty much got it down in a couple of days. Now admittedly, I have been working with edged tools and knives for about 40 years, and when I started out my father insisted that if he was going to teach me how to use the tools, I was gong to have to learn how to take care of them as well. So I have been honing and sharpening things for a very long time. When I was first learning, it probably took me about six months before I could put a really good edge on a draw knife (and you don't want to use a dull draw knife).