I'm actually trying to go backwards. I basically started honing to a esher level and I'm looking to go back and make sure than I do actually get the best of every hone instead of progressing through 1, 5, 8, 10, 12, esher. So if I take a razor that is shave ready to a higher grit eg 12k and put it back on the 8k will the edge degrade back to an 8k edge or do I really need to take it back further and work up to 8k. Thanks for your help. Ed