I' ve got one of the Smith sharpening systems too, but I learned many ago how to freehand sharpen and using the system just takes up more time. I do like diamond hones!

How about trying a different knife? Probably the easiest knife to sharpen is a Helle, or one of the other traditional Scandinavian knives. To sharpen them, you lay the entire edge bevel flat on the stone and make equal strokes on both sides until the edge is sharp. No way to round the edge off.