Here is an interesting .pdf entitled
Experiments on Knife Sharpening. If you're at the basic drag it across a doorstep level it is probably not for you, but if you like to play around:
Experiments on Knife Sharpening
John D. Verhoeven
Emeritus Professor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Iowa State University
Ames, IA
page 2 [1] Introduction
page 8 [2] Experiments with Tru Hone knife sharpening machine
page 12 [3] Experiments with steels
page 18 [4] Hand Sharpening with flat stones and leather strops
page 25 [5] Experiments with the Tormek machine
page 32 [6] Buffing wheel experiments
page 37 [7] Experiments with carbon steels
page 40 [8] Experiments with diamond polishing compound
page 43 [9] Summary and Conclusions
page 46 References
page 47 Appendix 1 Edge angle measurements with a laser pointer
page 48 Appendix 2 The Tormek sharpening machine
page 53 Appendix 3 The Tru Hone sharpening machine
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/downloads/pdf/knifeshexps.pdf