Start here. It is one of the only tutorials that's thorough enough to give you good kernels from the start.
http://www.bitbenderforums.com/vb22/...303#post296303
Another thing you might want to do is download a .config file from the Slackware distribution. This way you can compile a kernel the way Slackware does it and know that the configuration is right. To fully configure a new kernel takes many, many hours. More than likely, you won't be able to do it in one sitting. You can find Slackware kernels and configs here:
ftp://slackware.cs.utah.edu/pub/slac...rnels/huge26.s
I pointed you to the huge 2.6 kernel because it is the most generic and useful for different hardware, but feel free to look at some of the others Slackware offers. Once you get good at it, it'll only take about 10 minutes of effort to upgrade or make changes, not including download times and compile times.
I'm making an edit because I realize I didn't answer your question. There is no difference in compiling and recompiling except that when you recompile you probably aren't going through the same amount of effort you would in configuration during a recompile. Typically, when you're recompiling, you're only making a few little changes.
For example, I'm running a kernel now, and I could recompile it to add or remove features. I could also configure and compile a new one from scratch. Hope that helps clarify.