I had a pro woodcarver teach me a bit about sharpening.He told me about stones and bevels and such,The one thing that really got my attention was the strop.We took a piece of 3/8" thick maple and cut a paddle shape,glued a piece of thinner latigo leather to it and rub some mineral oil into it and then red jewlers rogue until we had a paste. I worked this paste into the leather and removed the extra. I was amazed at what a few stokes on that strop would do to an already sharp blade. That said,I have not re-treated my strop for years and it still seems to work ok,BUT I will be getting some to rogue with my next order from klingspore woodworking. I think it works great.Good luck
Chuck