I'm enjoying honing razors and then shaving with them. When a razor isn't quite what I want, I tend just to go "down the progression" a couple steps and come back up. Maybe drop to the 8K, then 12K etc.

This got me thinking, which often is a bad sign.

Are there distinctive problems a razor might have, felt by the shaver, that can be associated with specific problems in honing?

For example, we say a razor that cuts hair but irritates is sharp but not smooth, which means more work on the finishing stones.

Are there other "diagnostics" in the shave that would tell me where I went wrong in the honing?

I realize this assumes I'm using good shave preparation, good touch, angle, technique, etc. I just wonder sometimes if a poorly set bevel, for example, would have a different feeling on the face than a good bevel that didn't get enough work on the 5K stone? Or fine on the 5K, but poorly finished? Or, is there a shaving situation where you would say "Hey, this razor needs 25 laps on a CrOx pasted strop" even if you didn't normally do that?

I hope this is clear--I'm just wondering if it's possible to correlate particular problems shaving with particular issues in honing, or if it's more trial and error.