@Dagny (and anyone else interested):

I came across a series of YouTube tutorials that are a pretty good primer on knife sharpening. I don't agree with every last detail, but they do a decent job explaining the "why" as well as the "how."

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22thomas+stuckey%22+knife+sharpening&aq=f

I confess that I'm lazy about the stropping part. Some of the stuff I cut is quite fibrous, and I prefer a bit of sawtooth on the edge.

I also get newbies to use a 22-1/2 degree angle, because they can consistently find it (start with blade at 90* to the stone, half of that is 45*, half again is 22-1/2*). This doesn't apply to Moras, of course, where it's best to follow the factory bevel.

The sharpener I reach for most often is a medium grit diamond bench stone. Diamond cuts faster than the traditional "carborundum" stones I had used in the past. I have a very nice diamond bench stone from EZ-Lap, several small DMT ones for close-in work and serrations, and a fistful of cheap Chinese ones that are fairly decent considering I got them for $4.88 on sale.