Good day,
my name is Dan. I hone my razors on norton 4k/8k then I progress to Chinese natural 12k (thick slurry then thin the slurry and finally water for a total of about 400 strokes!) then I do a few laps on Chromium oxide pasted balsa strop, then 0.35 micron diamond on felt (don't feel this does much though unfortunately). and finally 60 laps on steerhide leather strop.
this gets my razors shave ready but not as sharp and smooth as disposable blades. ( I have tried Gillette nacet and feather and my straight razors are not that sharp).

I was wondering just how good are japanese natural hones (I know each one is different) but in general how much sharper can you go with a Nakayama asagi as opposed to the chinese 12k? then there is ofcourse the problem is with my cnat being extremely slow I don't even feel progress as the blade gets sharper.

I looked at some of the hones at thejapanblade.com and I am thinking of getting a stone but I am not sure yet.

how about eschers? are they much better than my current finishing lineup? I am trying to get to the sharpness level of a "feather" disposable blade.

how about coticules? I heared they are very versatile stones but versetility is not exactly what I am looking for right now I need a good finisher. I read somewhere that their "grit" is 8000 and with slurry it goes down to about 5k. on paper 8k is not high enough of a finisher.

Please help me I am perplexed.

Dan