Seeking knife sharpening advice

Hello! I decided to give another go at tiki carving, but this time I wanted to go much smaller in scale, and use knives. I have some decent knives, but I can't seem to get them very sharp. I know everyone in this forum says to keep your blades razor sharp, but I can't seem to achieve this. I have a sharpening stone and mineral oil, I also have a leather honing strap and honing compound. I have a book on carving with instructions about how to sharpen knives, and I followed them explicitly, but my knives don't seem to get anywhere near razor sharp. They are new knives.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any good online tutorials (or advice in general) for sharpening knives that they might share with me?

Thanks for your time!
TODD

bump

Buy one of these:

warren-cutlery-2-basic-carving-set

And get a whole mess of these...
SMALL-INTERCHG-BLADE-3-PKG

And just throw them away when they get dull.

At least that's what I'd do/did.
Buzzy Out!

Get Warren Cutlery #10 Hook Blades buy 12 and get the wholesale price of 91 cents instead of 3 for 5 bucks. Buy a handle.or 3.
Next get several dowels5/8" thick and cut 1 foot long.
Next get wet dry sandpaper, silicon carbide is best.
the grits should be 220, 350,500, 800,1000, 1200,1500,2000.
Get 3M spray contact cement.
Cut paper into strips which will fit exactly around dowel with no overlap Finally comes the meat and potatoes. Hold the knife on a bench dog, sawhorse, bench or any secure spot where you can sharpen it comfortably.
Use the dowel/sandpaper like a file drawing your "Paper File"90 degrees across the blade in the direction of the cut Don't push the file Into the sharp edge of the blade. Start at 220 IF the blade is really dull. If only touching it up start somewhere in the middle, use your brain and experience to determine.sharpen one side and when you can SEE that you have evenly sharpened one side, flip the knife over and sharpen the other side. It's important to check the blade often to make sure it is getting sharpened. Going through the grits from 220 to 2000 will leave a Mirror image on your blade but, BUT for the record I'll say it here. It is possible to Polish a dull knife so it LOOKS Sharp. Think about it and check often and it won't happen to you.
I will shoot a short video tomorrow on this subject and post iteither here or on my Face Book account.
This is the similar method I use for sharpening my Chisels the difference being I have all the different grits (No Not the Breakfast kind!):). on a clipboard hanging on a nail somewhere in my shop so I can lose it. But I just push the chisel across the paper firmly but lightly in the same directions . Your chisels will be sharpened in about 5 minutes each. No power required except Arm power.

LAter tiki Peeps!

^ please do (post a video) ^

I've been watching this thread like a hawk. Mostly because when it comes to sharpening tools, I'm about as effective as a monkey painting a portrait with a banana. I'm horrible at it.