finishing stone or just keep working technique

Note to Mods: if this belongs elsewhere, pls. move

At 90 days, I'm getting decent shaves (str8) - defined as way better than any other kind of blade or shaving method. I'm fairly happy w/ my edges, though I've not managed to avoid becoming strop-broken - still nick frequently enough to make the strop wince when I enter the room. My finishing stone is the humble c12k. Method is no tape until well polished using water only. Then, let stone dry, add one or two layers of plastic tape, and do 20-40 passes on the dry stone, depending on the hardness of the steel. I've honed 11 razors, some of them multiple times. I don't know if the priority should be simply continuing to work on shaving technique, or if I should consider branching into stones of higher finish quality - be that a coticule, escher/thuringian, Shapton or jnat. In terms of shaving, there seems to be no means of improvement beyond one shave/day. 'Tried 2, but the face gets a bit tender.

On honing, I wish I could better learn how to handle the various irregularities in blades - wavy edge, wavy spine etc. and if learning different stones would be a worthy advancement at this point. I seem to appreciate a smooth edge at least as much as an ultra sharp edge. Would this lend itself to a particular kind of finishing stone?

Thank you very much for your thoughts.

Try to get 1 proper honed blade(doesn't mean your honing has problems) and see what is a different between your honing and next razor you got.
if there is a lot differences and you later option then you may need to get another finishing hone.

i can hone razor for you free of charge but you will need to cover postage.
i could do so after November 10 th.

Working on your technique and buying better equipment are separate, but related, issues. Unfortunately, if you aren't good with your razor the best stones in the world aren't going to get it done for you. Conversely, you need the best possible edge in order to get optimal results. Kind of a Catch 22.

I think a good course of action would be to continue to work on your shaving and honing technique with the equipment you have. If the cost isn't a prohibitive problem, get better stuff as you feel your progress plateau. A lot of guys get great results from the 12K that you have, so it can be done. This is not to say that it isn't great fun to surrender to the ADs.....in fact, I highly recommend it.

I can for sure, without a doubt, tell you that you haven't found the best of the Ch12k yet...:)

'Hard to get my head around how much kindness comes from you guys (not just to me). 'Can't say how much I appreciate it.

Sham, while I was struggling w/ a large blade, I almost im'd you offering to pay premium (gladly). Guys that have gotten your honing done speak of it as the best edges they ever felt. You're so kind. I hope you constantly get messages of appreciation.

Glen - I suspect you're right about wringing all I can out of the c12k. I've tried a slurry, raised w/ a ruby stone, tried lots of laps, 20 only, lately tried finishing dry after laps with water, adding tape for the last dry laps. It does bring an improvement.

Like many others, I'm shopping for a job, so it may be that other tools (stones) will be more in the future. Sometimes something shows up that is too good to pass up. If you were to add to the battery, which kind of finishing stone would you recommend? Even more so, what techniques would you recommend I try w/ the c12k?

Again, I sure appreciate your kind help.