Thanks for the link Sticky, I was not aware that DOVO advocated raising a burr in the sharpening process. Although I am not sure if it is the best/most efficient way to hone, honing until a small burr is raised would at least tell someone that they have hit the edge on that particular side. My experience tells me that it works well without any bad effects on the shaving edge as long as you carefully remove the burr before moving on in the stone progression via light alternating strokes. I will continue to use my alternating strokes and sharpness tests though.