My Paternal grandfather taught me. He also shaved with a straight razor. I inherited his razors and razor strop. When younger I shaved with them for a while. It is a firm handed mans game. Straight pulls only. To make knives shave I use hard Arkansas soil stones. I keep them wiped clean. The angle has to be consistant. Many knives have a 45 Degree angle and a 25 to 30 degree angle on the opposite edge. I will use a very fine file to bring both sides to the right angle, use a medium stone and then a fine stone to get the burr on the edge some have mentioned. I then put dry jewelers rouge on the razor strop and work off the burr. I used to sharpen all the knives for my family and the guys I worked with just before deer season. All edges would shave. EXCEPT, the older knives with the 440 or soft stainless blades. You can make these pieces of poor metalurgy shave if you work on it long enough but the edge wears off too quickly to make it worth while. I quit sharpening these on the stone as they did clog it up and only used a fine file. Hey bring me a cheap knife to sharpen for free you get what works best or go buy a good high carbon steel knife. The old Buck pocket knives were the worst. Soft 440 Stainless.