I just wanted to thank Xman and mparker for their honing tips lately. I've read all this stuff a million times, but somehow this time it sunk in and made a big difference.

Tonight I took a razor from eBay condition to shave-sharp in about an hour. This was a pretty bad eBay razor--heavy hone wear, with a strange-shaped edge. I decided to use the magic marker test to see how the bevel was hitting the hone.

Well, well, I noticed that the toe and heel weren't getting honed. I applied more magic marker and tried some variations of the "rolling hone" stroke as articulated by X. Wow, I quickly figured out how to get the entire bevel hitting on each stroke.

That sucker zipped through the grit progression, right up to 8K.

I have been struggling with eBay razors as of late, spending hours and hours when one part of the edge gets sharp and others wouldn't.

My rolling hone stroke needs a lot more practice, but I've added another useful technique to my arsenal.

Thanks guys!

Josh