When I first started straight shaving I honed my own razor using the same process I used (Spyderco Sharpmaker) for knives plus stropping on an old belt pasted with Flitz and I 'could' shave but it was not particularly comfortable. I had nothing else to compare to so the two things I did to figure it all out were:

1) Pick up a razor from the Classifieds here.
2) Grab a $20 portable microscope from Radio Shack.

When I shaved with the razor I got from the classifieds it was smooth and I did not have to back up and go over spots like I did from my hone. From looking with the naked eye I could see no difference. However, under Mag I could see that the Classified's Razor was truly smooth and shiny with a very even edge and bevel. Comparatively, my hone job had a good bevel but the edge appeared ragged/toothy in comparison.

I am still fine tuning my process but I can now get my edge as sharp as those I've purchased. But, I am still always learning something new nearly every time I log on here!