Well, the Dove still felt like the typical coti edge that I get... so no luck there. Yesterday, I honed up the Ralf Aust on the coti and shaved with it yesterday... great, comfortable coti edge.
Today, I decided to try the Aust on the Zulu differently than I had been. Since I've yet to have any luck with it, I decided to slurry it and see what happened. I started with a fairly thick (by Zulu standards) slurry. I diluted every 20 X strokes. After passing 80, it was almost straight water, so I rinsed everything clean, and did 20 X's on straight water... rinsed again and a final 20.
I just got done shaving with it a few minutes ago, and wow... I think I finally figured out the particular Zulu that I have. This baby just needed some slurry. Under magnification, the edge looked pristine, drastically different than prior to the Zulu today which showed a nice coti edge. The shave was amazing with near 0 burn with the aftershave.
At the same time, I do notice that the sharpness was kicked up from the coti edge as well... got a little bite. I guess I've gotten used to the forgiving coti edges these past few months. Not a bad cut, but enough to realize that I was playing with a whole different animal. Sharp, but smooth is how I would describe it. Took about 11 months to figure out my Zulu, but I think I may have now. Such a relief!