Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions. Badgister does charge 40$ which is steep but if he can give me some honing pointers it might be worth it.
Here's how I honed my razor:
-I did the circle technique on the 4000 extensively on one side because the bevel was very uneven on that side. The bevel was very thin in the middle of the blade and getting wider at the edges. I did improve it a lot but it's not as perfect as one side which is perfectly straight and even.
I then proceeded to do 40 passes on the 4k. At this point, the blade wasn't super grabby, I've never managed to get it much more than pocket knife sharp on the Norton stone. I did 40 passes on the 8k and it felt about the same. Frustrated, I went back for another 40 passes on the 4k and 40 on the 8k and it felt the same.
I then went and did 40 passes on the green chromium oxide. After that the blade felt very sharp and definitely grabby on the thumb pad test. Definitely would cut the skin with very slight pressure. So I did 40 passes on the red chromium oxide and it was even sharper. The. I wiped the blade and gave it 50 passes on my brand new strop. At this point the blade was still sharp but ever so slightly duller than when it çam of the red chromium oxide.
So I get the impression that with the Norton, I'm just setting the bevel and not actually getting the blade very sharp. I don't even know if I could shave with a blade come right of the 8k, don't think it would be nice. I feel like only the balsa and chromium oxide are giving me the signing edge that really works with little effort. Then again, am I stropping too much? I usually strop the blade 50 passes (50 times to and from so 100 total).
Thanks for any insight.