I have a Lansky, which works ok, but I like the SHarpmaker best. It's probably a mastery thing...I haven't spent enough time playing with the Lansky.

I agree with Raydarkhorse....22 to 25 degrees (or 25 to 30 for me), but most knives will come from the factory ground between 25 and 40 degrees. Even knives ground at 40 degrees and above will cut just fine and get razor sharp if you like that angle.

Like someone said, you can use a Sharpie black marker to color the edge, then after a few light strokes on the stone you'll know pretty much what your edge angle is.

I never used a Fiskars ceramic system, so advice on technique is not for me. The biggest problem in any sharpening system, I think, is not sharpening the edge. Usually we're sharpening the "shoulder of the edge" and not the edge itself. Sharpie marker helps there.