I had a lot of problems getting good edges on my razors, even thought the "basics" seemed pretty straightforward. Here are the 2 biggest causes of my problem:

1) I didn't lap my hone. Once I did this to my Norton 4/8 and all my barber hones, life got much much better.

2) Not enough pressure on the hone. I read and read about how light a touch you must use, but without some comparison, it was difficult for me to judge. Something a honemeister probably could have corrected in person for me in like 1.3 seconds.

Anyway, I was honing with literally nothing but the weight of the blade pushing it on the hone... I was balancing it to keep it perfectly flat, but applying no downward pressure.

My most successful hone jobs to date have been using very light pressure at the tip of the spine with the left hand (to hold it flat) while apply a little torque on the tang end. I would say I use about 1lb of downforce on the blade when using the 4k and at the beginning on the 8k. As I get close, I ease off and use less pressure on the 8k, then finish with very light X strokes or circles on a finishing/barber hone.

I'm probably too "green" to give anyone advice, but if you're having the same problems I did... maybe this will help.

Best,
Bob