First, let me say thanks again to everyone who helped me with the "honing with tape" technique. I am now getting killer sharp edges with electrical tape, consistently and without drama. Thanks!!

Now here's the next problem. I've noticed this a few times, both with tape and without. After I'm done honing and I start to dry the blade off before stropping, I notice that there is a dark water stain across the bottom third of both sides of the blade, right where the water from the hone and slurry was in contact with the blade. There's never any staining above this level, and the stain always comes off with a little Flitz, but what the heck is going on?! I end up keeping my can of Flitz handy whenever I need to hone, which is kind of ridiculous. And this isn't a stain that comes from just making contact with water, because these blades get wet all the time when I shave with them! So what gives?

Anyway, what I'm using now is this -- Naniwa 1k, then one of my BBW/coti combo stones (both sides), then either a CF or Japanese stone to finish. Thanks for the help with this! --Jeff