Good post. My barber uses a leather strap, hasn’t cut me in 30+ years. I’m thinking practice is an important factor.I have at Least 6-7 different sharpening system, from stones to manual to electric. What I have found to be the most helpful are two things. First, you need to understand what you are trying to do. Getting a burr is important and you are basically trying to bring two edges together. The second is simply practice. Get cheap knives and ruin them. Eventually you will get good at it and then you can sharpen your more expensive ones. This applies to stones, clamp type systems, and electric ones as well.
Understanding what you’re trying to do and the quality of the mettle has got to be high on the list for success.