A bit of time with the D8C 325 and I have 2 smooth side edges. One is 6" long, the other just shy of 4".

I also took another blade back to the stone after a concentrated effort at 8 & 12k. 'Didn't have enough beard (after a great shave w/ a formerly so-so razor) to fully test, but it seemed to be about the same as yesterday's water only finish (dang good, to be sure).

In the process, I started with much less water, and after about 30 strokes, could see some darkening of the slurry raised by the blade. I suspect I was obscuring some of the stone's feedback of color, etc by using too much slurry, too much water. So maybe it's not that slow?

So many confusing results. I feel foolish frequently. But I can't deny that it has improved every blade I have except one.

It's hard to face this, but I continue to get more keenness from circles than x-strokes. Both are very light - no pressure, but its sad to see that my stroke may have some repair work to do. I can typically do several x-strokes without degrading the keenness of the circles, but if I do 15-20 strokes, it has either gone downhill, or I'm confusing increased smoothness with a decrease in keenness. Maybe this is part of what Yamashita-san meant when he said a good stone will make you better at honing. Sigh. Back to basics to find the flaw and correct it.

On heavier grinds - you mentioned sort of a 'less is more' approach, and a preference for the coticule. Would this be true for the 1/4 grinds as well as the wedges? Riooso's edge on the 1/4 grind isn't that keen to the tpt, but the results are astounding. It's hard to separate out what is the blade and what is the edge finish. (it's a breathtaking Williams blade) It sort of adds fuel to the issue of maybe confusing increased smoothness with decreased keenness. That blade takes more forward force to initiate a stroke, but underway, no more than any other, and the result is a cleaner, closer swath cut than anything else in the drawer.

Yamashita-san didn't say that becoming better at honing would be easy

Again, Your help is so much appreciated.