It looks like the chrome ox on the paddle is making the edge coarser, not finer (!)

I'm starting to get the feeling that maybe abrasive pastes became popular because most people only owned one not-terribly-fine barber hone, and pastes were the only way to get a really fine grit. Of the 6 different barber hones I own, only the Lithide could truly be called a finishing hone. All the rest would need SOME extra step before you could shave with them.

Is that plausible? I hope so, b/c I just pulled that theory out of my ass