I think that looks pretty good. My stones started to perform dramatically better on the seventh knife I sharpened. Most people report that break in of the stones become apparent at about 10 knives or so. Keep at it! Pressure is really important to getting stropping results that are good. It is mostly a trial and error game to find the right balance of angle modification and pressure that works well for you.
Thanks! I did notice, especially with the 600/800 and 800/1000 grit stones that they sounded a little different this time and felt a little smoother. Less of the crunchy grinding sound and more like a file skating on hardened steel. I’ll keep at it and experiment with more pressure stropping. It’s not as sharp as I can get on a water stone/worksharp/etc yet, but I’m super happy with how consistent the bevel is along the entire edge. Even under a microscope it’s basically a perfect line all the way across.
