Welcome to the forum! 
It's probably the sharpening. Get
Steve's system and you'll be
amazed at the difference. There's a sticky thread (pinned to the top) in the General Discussion forum about 'Inexpensive way to get started'. Read through it.
You can justify it to your lovely bride by pointing out that the sharpening part of it will save the money you've already spent on the rest of your gear.
Then, once you can make her something pretty....
