roger lance
Bill....my sharpening approach has been evolving and I currently have three levels of working on an edge.....

1.) For really out of flat blades, I have a granite plate to which sandpaper can be
attached.....80 or 100 grit.....rough work but a lot of metal can be removed.

2.) For those minor nicks you mentioned, I have some DMT DiaSharp steel plates.
220, 325, and 600 grit diamond plates that seem to work well at this type of
task.

3.) Then, its on to water stones.....Stu's Sigmas.....1200, 6000, and 13000 grit.