Thread: high grit then paste

I have been wrestling with this question for my own honing. On the one hand I know some honemiesters who have the skill and the tools to get a razor scary sharp on hones alone but don't hesitate to say that they finished on paste. I still look at honing razors as a challenge so I feel that until I can achieve the honemiester level on the hones alone I only use the paste as a last resort. If after the first pass the razor isn't up to snuff I get onto the paste before the second pass. This is sometimes all it needed and other times it is back to the hones.

Then I think about how the purpose of the honing is to get the razor sharp and the paste is just another abrasive like the hone so why not take advantage of it ? Matter of fact I have a Bill Ellis custom ATS 34 that I thought I would never get sharp. I had honed and test shaved and went back to the hones 4 times. The last time I did another progression on the high grit Shaptons and then I did 20 laps on Lynn's new felt strop sprayed with the 0.5 diamond spray and that blade was transformed into scary sharp and a great shave. So the paste is useful but I would still like to develop the skill with the hones and avoid using the paste until as Bart says I have improved my skill with the rocks.