Okay, I'm throwing myself on you guys' mercy.

I believe I've spent some hundreds of hours learning to hone. I have
every piece of equipment I should need, including several good-quality
hones such as the Norton 4k/8k, a DMT for lapping, a machinist's
ruler, a microscope, several loupes, not to mention about 18 razors,
some of them quite nice. Ages ago, I had a couple of the razors honed
by experts, one of them Our Founder Lynn, but beyond that I have never
been able to shave with one of my own razors. I have read thousands of
words on the topic of honing, watched several very instructive videos
including Lynn's, and done my best to match in practice what I've
learned by observation, all to no avail.

Meanwhile, I've been contentedly shaving with a Feather DX for many
months, but the WHOLE POINT of this endeavor was to be able to stop
using disposable blades.

A couple of confessions: First, I really can't use the one-handed honing
approach, except with hand-held barber hones. I just don't trust the
very slight uncertainty I feel when I'm honing one-handed. So, I have
put a lot of effort into developing a delicate, two-handed stroke, where I
hold the razor in my left hand (I'm a southpaw), and use just the ring
finger of my right hand at the toe of the blade to make sure the razor
lies completely flat on the hone. Second, I need the sort of visual
feedback that I get from inspecting the edge either with a loupe or a
microscope. Otherwise, I simply can't tell what progress I'm making,
if any. And this leads me to the hub of the problem.

With whichever razor I try to hone, I seem to come to the same place:
The bevel looks decent enough to the naked eye, but under the scope
the edge is revealed to be jagged and uneven, looking, as I've said
elsewhere, like a distant range of mountains seen against a pale
sky. Based on my research, my strong hunch is that until I can get the
edge to be quite straight and perfectly even, which is how
a commercially-produced razor blade edge looks, there's no point in
trying to advance to the next phase of sharpening. I realize that a
straight and even edge does not mean that the razor is sharp; however,
I am convinced that a straight edge is necessary, though not
sufficient, for a good shave.

I have tried about every strategy I have seen discussed at
straightrazorplace, including the fabled pyramid, without getting past
the jagged edge stage. I'm hoping that by making this very specific
complaint, I might wind up with whatever piece of the puzzle I seem to be
missing. I'd especially appreciate hearing from successful honers who
check their work with a microscope, so that I'll have some basis for
comparison. I don't know if I'll ever get to a place where I can
dispense with visual scrutiny of the razor's edge, but I'm certainly
not there now. The last time I tried the "oh heck i'll just do a
couple pyramids and then the shave test" approach, I instantly
regretted it.

Any and all help appreciated.

peace,
denis