After a few unlucky breaks here and there, I knew that some luck was more than due. I took a gamble and purchased two new stone, a natural Aoto and a Chinese Natural, and man oh man did I get lucky. The aoto starts cutting like a 1k and finishes a bit better than my 5k. Since luck was on the table, I pushed it a bit and took it from the aoto to the Chinese Stone and lightning struck twice. It was hair popping sharp after the first stone and that CS cut faster than what folks here have described (granted, they both soaked for hours before I started). It felt like a 10k for the first part and moved on to feel a little like the GS 16k at the end. Again, I pushed my luck and just jumped over to my Vintage 231 Hess Strop and I was off to a great shave. Man, I may even have to start playing the lotto with luck like this.