So, I am struggling to getting a good edge. I feel like I am consistently making a worse edge than the factory edge my razor had when it arrived.

A little background on the shaves I get:

I never get burns or weepers, but there is a considerable amount of pull when shaving, especially the neck. I never get BBS shaves, WTG on the neck leaves stubble (only felt when running hand ATG though). I do not dare go ATG on the neck with the razor, from experience it feels like it will cause razor burn.

A little background on how the razor holds up over time:

I can get a few shaves between each honing, maybe 3-4 before the pull is enough to make me unable to shave the neck area. I strop before each shave, which does improve the situation a lot.

A little background on how I hone:

I use Japanese Chef Knives brand waterstones, 1K, 4K, 6K and 10K. They are my first waterstones but I like their feel. Does anyone have any experience with them? Are they terrible stones?

I've tried a few different techniques, the one that works best for me is going 50 circles on 1K, 50 circles on 4k, 50 laps on the strop, 50 circles on 6K, 50 laps on the strop, 50 circles on the 10K and 50 laps on the strop, in that order.

Without the strop in the middle of honing, the edge is considerably worse.

What should I do differently? A recent insight I've had is that I might actually be overhoning something fierce, creating a wire edge multiple times during the honing session which i repeatedly remove using the strop. The result is a semi-sharp razor that manages a few shaves before being completely dull. What do you guys think? Is it a credible technique to strop while honing? Should I hone much less?

When progressing through the grits, should I increase or decrease laps with the grits? eg 10 laps on 1K, 20 laps on 4K etc or 40 laps on 1K, 30 laps on 4K etc?

Thanks for reading!