Hey, Pipeguy. I bought a blade from a guy that was doing 5 passes. I was doing 3+ at the time. I do one + touch-ups now. Whatever else is in play - let someone else argue with what works. If its working, you like it, no glaring down-sides? All else can STFU.

What led me to the single pass shave was initially the desire to have some stubble available in the evening with which to test new edges. An odd thing happened - my single pass got better & better & there was now no stubble available to test on. That doesn't mean your passes are inadequate, but you may want to notice what you get from each & how much you can do in each pass.

Another possible player is: the number of laps you do on the fast, aggressive pastes or sprays - can make an edge frail & prone to early failure. At 4 passes, this doesn't seem that likely, but you can do w/ your honing what I mention in the shave passes. If your 12k is really up to par, you need VERY little from any pastes & sprays.

We get spoiled & picky w/ our shaves & edges. I really think that's a wonderful thing. We get to enjoy more at a higher level of edge quality than most of our ancestors thought possible.