On Sharpening Knives

I've recently decided that I wanted to know how to sharpen knives. I've carried a knife with me just about everywhere for a whole lot of years, but I realized that I had no clue as to exactly how I was supposed to put a killer edge on the thing. One thing I do know is that a knife that doesn't slice through stuff cleanly doesn't feel particularly good.

First thing I tried was with my pocket knife. It's a fairly cheap Boker, with 440 stainless for the blade. So far I figure perhaps I'm not particularly good with knife sharpening, seeing as how I've been putting a lot of time into it, but the edge doesn't stay for long. I figure I'm generating a wire edge on the blade itself.

After stropping, I managed to grind a fine edge into the knife that's fairly lasting. Hopefully the edge will hold. I figure it may be a good idea to reprofile the edge itself so that it'll stay sharp. We shall see.