Tom nice job on the sows ear! Great practice and it will beat out the 98% of most kitchen knives now in civilians hands. I am no expert,it just seems like your pattern on the new steel is a little tip high. I don't know what you are looking for, but if you rough them out fat you can always cut them back more. I suffer from I cut it twice and its still to short quite a bit. Perhaps some of the gurus will weigh in on it. Good luck.