Think I finally got it right!
Well, I've been shaving with my Dovo Bismarck for about 8 months now and I think it finally got my edge just right last night.
I currently own a Norton 220/1000 and 4k/8k, as well as a Naniwa SS 12k. I have been trying and trying to get the edge just right recently after refreshing has ceased to do the trick any longer.
I decided to just go ahead and follow both Lynn's and Glen's YouTube videos on honing with the Norton 4/8, and the Janorton thread/videos came in really handy. Thanks again for that resource guys!
So I went ahead and did Lynn's 40 circles method on the Norton 4k, it took a few rounds of 40 with pressure and 40 without pressure to get the bevel feeling the way it is described using the TPT as well as checking to see if it shaved hair decently. It did seem to, I'm still not 100% sure I got the bevel exactly right but I was fairly certain I was good to go up the progression.
So I went ahead and did a 4k/8k pyramid, I hone with the stone in my hand and it went extremely well, this was not my first time so I think the limited experience I have did help. After the 8k I went to about 10 or 15 light, weight of the blade strokes on the Naniwa 12k, after Which the bevel was looking beautiful, mirror finish, no bad spots or inconsistencies that I could see....this is where I have stopped in the past and moved onto stropping.
However my last few shaves have been pretty uncomfortable, I have been a bit dumbfounded by it since my honing technique seems adequate, as well as my stropping technique. I have used CrOx in the past but it never seemed to do anything at all so I dropped it from my routine, it was micro-fine honing compound that I bought off Amazon.
So I decided to pickup a CrOx crayon off SRD's website which says it is the same high quality CrOx that Mastro Livi uses. I got it in The mail yesterday and it was much softer and more potent smelling than the one I had previously bough, I applied it sparingly to my black linen strop and gave my razor about 10 passes after the Naniwa 12k and HOLY CRAP!!
I can see why so many people swear by finishing on CrOx paste after a honing regimen, it seems like I just needed to get the good, high quality stuff. I can't wait and look forward to using it from now on for refreshing as well....it will be interesting as well when I can afford it to try finishing on like a 16k or 30k Shapton, I wonder if that would produce the same comfortable results as the CrOx.