Originally Posted by
holli4pirating
I would also say that just because you can't get these razors to shave smoothly does not mean that there is anything wrong with your honing. Maybe no one could get them to shave smoothly... Maybe send them to someone who's honing you trust to see if they can get anything better out of them. If you can find someone close so you can compare techniques directly, that may be even more useful. (In the event that I am someone who's honing you trust, I would voulenteer.)
I've had some razors that I just couldn't get to be great shavers; I'm sure we've all been there before. It could be technique, it could be equipment, it could be the razor - there's never really any way to know unless someone else tries (and even then, you won't really know). What I can say, though, is that if you start to doubt your honing, you may wind up in a "honing slump" (not fun), and if you work too much on any one razor, you may, in frustration, remove a lot of unnecessary steel (and you may do so unevenly). So try to stay positive, and don't beat your head against any one blade too much.