Building a kernel from standard source

squeeze

cp /boot/configXXXX .config
make oldconfig

make -j3 deb-pkg 

Jessie

cp /boot/configXXXX .config
make oldconfig
fakeroot make-kpkg --initrd -j2  kernel_image

Lenny

For building new kernels on Lenny you may also need to patch: http://www.mail-archive.com/debian-kernel@lists.debian.org/msg53960.html

tar -xvzf debian_lenny_kernel-package.diff.tgz -C /tmp
cd /
patch  -p0 < /tmp/root/temp/debian_lenny_kernel-package.diff

 make-kpkg kernel_image
 dpkg -i ../<imagename>.deb

build initrd

 update-initramfs -c -k vmlinuz-2.6.29.1

add initrd to grub boot menu