I get where you are coming from but... It was actually the Ura that was wonky. I had expected the opposite. The Omote side (soft iron) came in quite easily without having to remove much steel. The Ura (front side with kanji) had uneven voids in the steel at the spine causing a teetering effect until it was flattened out a bit. This was a virgin kamisori with zero hone wear prior to this honing session.