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Thanks! Does anyone have a recommendation on a shaft extension to put these wheels on the honing side, similar to what Vadim used?

The only one that comes to mind is https://schleifjunkies.de/en/

I believe you can also use the shaft extension that comes with the Tormek profiled leather wheels, if you happen to have one of those.

I've been round the bend with this issue, too.  The truth is that it's just a limitation of the current system, and there's no perfect way around it.  If you draw the blade straight across, keeping the jig perpendicular to the guide bar, and only raise your elbow to bring the belly into contact with the stone--as suggested by Tormek--you will have a higher bevel angle toward the tip. 

If, on the other hand, you pivot the jig to get the belly/tip lower down on the stone, there will be some inconsistency in that area, although it can be minimized with practice.  However ... there are some situations where no amount of pivoting can get the tip low enough to match the angle on the rest of the knife.

These days I don't let it wreck my head.  The angle difference generally isn't that extreme, and the system gets knives sharp, and quickly. 

dang its sold out and no stock until July and no option to get reminder when in stock

I ordered a second one from Sharpening Supplies yesterday and it noted restocking in two weeks.

I ordered one the day they were released and it said shipping in about two weeks.  Now it says they'll be getting more stock in July.

Where did you order from? I ordered from Sharpening Supplies on what i believed to be the day of release. I received mine days ago. A day after the first order, I ordered a second one and it was indicated shipping in two weeks. We'll see if it does ship.

I also ordered from sharpeningsupplies.com.  I guess I must have missed the first batch by a matter of hours or minutes.  Mine hasn't shipped yet, either.

dang its sold out and no stock until July and no option to get reminder when in stock

I ordered a second one from Sharpening Supplies yesterday and it noted restocking in two weeks.

I ordered one the day they were released and it said shipping in about two weeks.  Now it says they'll be getting more stock in July.

Wow, this is very exciting.  Can't wait to get my hands on it.  Hopefully the wait isn't too long in the U.S.

I think it's quite possible to get a 15 dps edge to 100 BESS or lower using the SG wheel and leather wheel with PA-70.

Best to keep it simple.  We know there are two components to sharpening:

1) Apex the edge.  Can you feel a burr all long the edge after your final pass on one side, and then on the other side?  If so, the SG wheel has done its job.

2) Remove the burr.  This is the hard part when it comes to getting very low BESS scores.  You can get sub-optimal results if you:

   a. Don't remove all of the burr, which can happen if you are honing at too low an angle, or if you don't hone enough.

   b. Round the apex by honing at too high of an angle, or apply too much pressure when honing.

Freehand honing on the leather wheel is definitely something that takes some practice and muscle memory to perfect.  You can work around that by using a front vertical base to hone with a jig, or keep practicing! 

I would suggest marking the edge before you start honing so you have a better idea where the bevel is hitting.  It's also helpful to use some kind of magnification to give you a better idea what's happening. 

Lastly, I think it helps to minimize the burr as much as possible before you go to the leather wheel.  One way to do that is to do a couple very quick, very light alternating passes on the sharpening stone.

Wootz's method generally involved honing at higher angles before finishing at the sharpening angle, depending on the steel involved.

I found this one on Amazon.  I haven't tried it myself so I can't vouch for the quality.

https://www.amazon.com/Marathon-Polishing-Tormek-Density-0-80gm/dp/B0B3KS68XK

A score of 140 BESS is pretty darned good for a 19 dps blade.  When you see extraordinarily low scores, it's usually with an edge in the 12-15 dps range, or even lower.  Geometry is king.

I use a rubber dog food mat which works well. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BLVRGQZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The SVM jig is much better if you want to pivot a knife with a big belly, assuming you have some kind of after market pivot add-on.  This could be addressed in an updated KJ-45 with an adjustable stop, which I would really love to see.

What bothers me is my inability to keep the bevel nice and even, especially toward the tip.

It's interesting that you're getting a wider bevel at the tip.  The normal result, if you follow Tormek's general advice to move the jig parallel to the USB and only lift your elbow to hit the belly/tip, is a smaller bevel.  That's because the bevel angle gets steeper as you get higher on the wheel.  Are you using that method, or are you pivoting the jig?

I'll second cb's recommendations.  One thing to keep in mind is that the edge may have been burned by the factory.  Manufacturers almost always use belt sanders for rapid throughput.  If they're too aggressive, they can ruin the temper of the edge, which can extend as much as a 1-2 mm.  If the heat treat is messed up, the edge will just crumble instead of forming a stiff burr.  All of which is to say that you might need to sharpen a bit *past* the apex to hit good steel.

Very cool!  I think it looks great. 

I wonder if it might have been easier to do the convex on a soft substrate, like sandpaper on a mouse pad instead of glass?

It's about a 4mm blade stock.  I wasn't really interested in performance, honestly -- just checking out the new convexing feature -- but it probably cuts better with the convex given how wide the flat bevel was before.

AUS10A is a decent stainless steel.  It's usually hardened to 58-61 hrc and it's considered pretty tough, so it should be able to handle a low angle.  I don't have the knife you're talking about, but knowing Cold Steel, I would guess it's pretty thick behind the edge, so your choice of bevel angle may depend on your appreciation for wide versus small edge bevels.  If you have a set of calipers, measure the width right behind the edge.  Average for pocket knives is probably around 0.020".  If it's closer to 0.030", I'd stick with 20+° or else you're going to have quite a thick edge bevel.  But again, it's a matter of aesthetics.  For my personal knives, I always err on the side of a lower angle for better cutting performance.