Yep, I experimented with the circles on my coticule and Chinese natural. My latest honing writeup is here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...tml#post430074

I mentioned in the write up that the circles on the Chinese produced good results but that I preferred the 100 laps since it doesn't take me that long. That was at the end of a long day. Today I will say that the circles did result in a smooth shave with less room for error over the 100 laps and produce an extremely sharp edge. For me, the time difference isn't anything but for most I would see the time/effort saving. I do feel the 100 laps produces a very slightly sharper edge but that may be debatable. At that level of difference there are a lot of events that could cause the difference if there really is one. Some day in the near future I may just take a razor and finish it with 100 laps, test shave, then do circles followed by some x strokes and test again. That would tell me if the circles take anything away from the edge and would be under the exact same skin conditions with the edge at the same level.

I agree with Holli that this process has produced very favorable results in my limited experiments. Like most people, my son would rather do the circles on the coticule and Chinese hone over the 100 laps also. So if that makes it more fun for him and produces the same or very close results, which it does, I all for it and Jr is a happy learning and honing!