When it really has to be sharp

[Timberwolf]

And you are honing by hand, take it to the next level...1-2 micron diamond powder, less than the size of a small match head, mixed with heavy mineral oil {or vaseline} on a translucent Arkansas stone...Used carefully, you can sharpen several blades with just the diamond you can keep on the stone. You can also use glass instead of an Arkansas stone and it may even produce a finer edge. From there I go to a leather strop charged with the same diamond powder..Best to dedicate a new leather strop strictly for use with this grade diamond powder, rather than contaminate it with other polishing compounds. One charge will last a really long time...A piece of softwood like Bass, White Spruce etc. etc can also be used to strop, charged with the diamond paste and it will "bed down" into the wood and last quite a long time for "touch up"...Diamond, being the hardest natural material on earth, will also embed in soft metals like copper, brass, aluminum, lead/tin...Nothing cuts like diamond....