Gentlemen,
Thank you all for your input. I really appreciate it. And thank you SixGun for your generous offer.

I will need to re-read all the posts and digest things. But, for now, I better clear up a few points.

1) I do not have the 4k stone with me, only the 8k.

2) The strop I have is the paddle type, so maintaining tautness is not an issue. (I don't think.) In other words, it's mounted on a wood backing.

3) The 60 and 100 grit sandpaper was used for leveling the stone. Silicon carbide floor paper for sanding marble and granite. I figured a stone's a stone's, thought it was appropriate. I worked on it for quite some time, certainly more than couple of hundred strokes and was still unable to achieve a flat cross sectional area.

4) I'm currently in the Philippines, will be in Indonesia by the end of the week. Finding a barber who uses a straight razor is very easy. I get a great shave down the road, hot towels, full treatment, etc for about $1.50. Deeper in the provinces I can get the same thing for less than buck. No, folks, these are not typos, ha, ha, ha. Shave, haircut with straight razor touch up of the hairline and neck and shoulder massage all in air-conditioned comfort for about $3 including tip. Anyway, I digress. The thing is, most of the barbers in this part of the world use the disposable blade type of straight razor.

5) With regards to SixGun's offer, very generous and thanks again. Problem is, I do move around quite a lot. The only way to assure I'd get it back quickly and safely would be to Fedex it back and forth, the cost of which would likely be close to what I paid for the razor.

6) Ok, difficult to describe but here's the cutting situation. One side has the TI logo in the hollowed portion of the blade. When that side is against my skin, the razor cuts ok. When the other side is against my skin, it cuts hardly at all.

Thanks all for the warm welcome and advice. I'm far from being discouraged and still remain committed to mastering straight razor use and maintenance. Hopefully, the idea of using this ultra-modern medium to put heads together and solve problems associated with a centuries-old tradition will be interesting for all of us. I'm really getting a kick out of it.

Hope that clears things up a little. If any more info is needed, please let me know. I only get online once or twice a day and not for very long. It's all a lesson in patience for me. As I understand it, that's a good thing to develop.