Assessing a honing job is a matter of eliminating a number of variables. First, is your coticule flat? If it's not, that's the first variable to eliminate. Second, are you using magnification so you can see the edge before treatment and then after treatment? That's the sure way to know what you're doing and what effect you're having on the edge. The coticules do come in 2 grades from the quarry in Belgium. The euro grade and the Select grade. I only sell the Select grade and they're pretty uniform! There is always variation in natural stones but the difference in final shave is more likely to be from other factors. Keep at it. For hundreds of years barbers used a coticule and a natural leather strop and you're likely to get good results if you can see exactly what you're doing. The HHT is a very subjective test and many have come to the conclusion that the only real test of an edge is whether or not it shaves your face.