Guys, I'm looking for some ideas as to what might be going wrong. I noticed a week ago that my Dovo (Bismarck blade - 6/8) was getting reluctant to shave, especially ATG. Slow, jerky, and plain not cutting the hair off. So I broke out my Naniwas and did a touch up. Didn't really help. So yesterday I did a serious pyramid. Started with 5K/8K 25/20/15/10/5/3/1-3/1-5. Then a pyramid between the 8K and 12K. Then lots of stropping. And it's perhaps a bit better but still not great. Did a normal shave and easily felt whisker ATG. Got out my Ralf Aust 5/8 and it all cut off smoothly. I lapped the stones beforehand so they were nice and flat.

I'm kind of at a loss. I guess it might possibly, conceivably need a back to basics bevel setting but it's such a new blade (this is the first I've needed to sharpen it) that it seems unlikely. Probably more likely is I'm just not doing the honing correctly.

One odd thing I noticed is that when pushing the blade away from me there was a nice body of water/swarf piling up in front but when I pulled it toward myself it was way less pronounced. Maybe some tiny warping of the blade? When I put my finger on the blade as I pulled I got a much more uniform pooling.

Anyway, that's the state of play and I'd love to hear opinions as to what I might be screwing up at. Oh, one more thing, it doesn't do well AT ALL with a HHT. No pop, no snip. Clearly that's not such a great sign but that's the way it is.

TIA
Crowden