You can watch all the vids on honing you want and think you are doing it right but the reality is you are not. Plain and simple, your bevel is not set as in the 2 planes of the bevel have not meet to form an edge. Without a proper bevel set going up the hone progression is like polishing a turd. I know this from having to learn honing on my own and went through the same thing. In the beginning you also don't know what to look for and/or how to interpret what you are seeing. That takes a while to learn too. The absolute best way to learning honing is to get together with a member who is experienced in honing for some one on one instruction.

Personally I think you are creating far more work for yourself by using a 400 grit hone as a bevel setter. That is especially so if the blade has no chips and even then a 1K is all you need. If a bevel needs no major work, like removing chips, just a reset then a 3K should do the job. That leaves far less deep striations to remove than a 400 grit hone.

To jump from a 400 grit hone to a 3K and finish on a 10K hone is too wide a spread between hone grits. I'd try using the 3K as your bevel setter and get a 5K or 8K to fill the gap between the 3K and 10K hones.

In the end though I would really find a mentor for one on one instructions on honing. You can't believe how much I would have liked to have that option.

Bob