Thanks for the tips - I'm going to practice some more on the cheapo knives and refine the technique a bit. I'm still working on figuring out edge angles (I feel like mine are kind of obtuse, but they seem to work reasonable enough).

Knifeguy - am I correct in reading that you're taking 3 to 4 passes on the touch ups per side in order to go over the full height of the edge? If so, that makes me feel a bit better. The sad thing is, I don't have any cheap 1/4" thick knives to practice reprofiling on (the closest would be the DMDC).

Horndog - as for stropping, I do have some leather belts from Lee Valley, but I haven't obtained any compound yet. I'll probably go with white for most use. The leather belt seems to "flap" a lot, requiring a bit of pressure to keep it from doing so.

One other issue I have is belt deflection when starting at near the choil causing an uneven gring (metal not being taken off in that region). I've watched brian's videos and have tried the "false start" method, but with variable results.

Well, off to more grinding. And working on a sheath for a yardkeeper <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />