Heres a little bit on sharpening a knife:

To sharpen a very dull knife, use first the coarse and then the fine side of the whetstone; to sharpen a blade in better shape, use only the fine side. Have badly chipped or serrated knives professionally sharpened.
Oil the surface of the whetstone lightly. If you can see the cutting bevel on the knife blade, keep the knife at this bevel as you work; otherwise, hold the knife with the blade at a 30-degree angle to the stone.
Holding the knife blade firmly at the bevel angle, push the full length of the blade gently but firmly away from you, at a diagonal across the stone. Lift the knife blade at the end of the stroke, turn the knife over, and repeat, stroking the blade away from yourself across the stone. Repeat, using alternating strokes on the two sides of the blade, for the same number of strokes on each side. These alternating strokes remove any tiny burrs caused by the sharpening. For very dull blades, follow this sharpening procedure on first the coarse side and then the fine side of the stone. Remove debris from the knife blade with a soft cloth.
To touch up the cutting edge of a carving knife, use a sharpening steel. With the blade of the knife away from you, pull the edge of the knife blade lightly down the length of the steel, stroking the entire length of the blade from handle to tip. Repeat on the other side of the knife blade. Stroke the sides of the blade alternately along the steel to produce the desired cutting edge; about six strokes per side are usually adequate, particularly for survival pocket knives.