Interesting. So if the cushioned strop hone is 6K and the Lithide is 8K, that puts the Gem hone at 7K. So these three hones are closer together than I thought.
I think I'm closing in on my problem (as I explain in my thread in the Shaving forum). Short answer: I'm too heavy-handed, & I'm trying to do maintenance with the Lithide hone instead of strop paste. Both of these things are mistakes.