“but was not nearly as smooth as…”
Yup, perfectly normal.
What I have witnessed with new honers, is the fear of using too much pressure at the bevel set… and not fully setting the bevel. We have pounded into new guys “Weight of the blade pressure”.
Not at bevel set…
You cannot polish an edge, that does not exist.
Hands on honing, will open your eyes to lots of issues, you will be allowed to peek behind the curtain…
Seriously, sit down and write out, all your questions and watch everything they do, not just what they say.
Folks always tell me, it all the little stuff that, they, never talk about in the videos.