I can't get this AUS8 sharp...

[EatingSarma]

A friend of mine has asked me to sharpen his Mini Tac for him.
The steel is AUS8.

I have no issues putting shaving sharp edge on my knives, those are 1095, D2 and CPM-3V. Usually maintaining with stropping, then hitting #600 or #800 diamond with feather light touch and hit the strop again. Sometimes I'll use ceramic of DC4 instead of diamond to touch up the edge before stropping, in case they aren't that dull.

Now, here's the thing with this, I'm either incompetent for this soft putty or this steel is just crap (or heat treat is crap), as it just won't take that shaving sharp edge.

I am definitely eating that edge, I even took a sharpie to paint the edge to make sure I'm hitting it where I want. It just has tiny bit up there that flaps over itself, I strop it and it won't go away until I go for bigger angles and ultimatively end up with rounded edge.
I tried the trick with pulling it through some wood - and the p.o.s. is still dull afer I do that...

This is beyond frustrating, D2 is notorious for being hard to get sharp and I can make it shave while this thing is regarded as easy to get sharp and I can't even get it to cut paper... what am I doing wrong?

 

[OrangeBlueOrangeBlue]

Stropping doesn't make a dull knife sharp. If the bevels don't meet at a clean apex, you're not going to have a sharp edge. A knife should be apexed before you go anywhere near a strop, and it should be pretty sharp, even at very coarse grits. The "tiny bit up there that flaps over itself" sounds like a stubborn wire burr, which means you haven't got a clean apex.