RE: Sharpening blades?
A simple hand stone is very inexpensive and it is very easy to keep a good edge on any blade after a very little bit of practice. As mentioned in one of the above bits, it is common to have the sharpened blades better than the new ones. It is also easy to make your own blades from broken hacksaw blades if you have a grinder and they will usually hold an edge even better than the typical #11.