if I had never had a razor honed by others I would never have found out that mine was not there to start with ,, and comparing has been an eye opener for me . I don't hone but I feel comfortable with knowing now what is sharp and smooth, I do look at them with a loupe to see what it looks like too ,, I have some of the custom razors and they really show more than just craftsmanship ,,some very great shaving edges ,, and also I found a honemiester who gives my smoothest shave , so Tim is right ,, more than one way to get it there, each technique is interesting to me I guess what I,m saying is try different styles or different guys if you can ,,, you never know what your missing ,, tc