This is a repost from what I put up over at BladeForums... But I'm trying to figure out the same thing. Hopefully one of you guys can help me out over here.

So I've been at this for some 4 months now... and I have yet to get a straight razor to hair-splitting sharp. I don't consider myself a novice to sharpening in general; I can get a knife hair-splitting easily.

So my equipment has been this:

1. DMT EF for setting the bevels.
2. Spyderco UF for finishing.

3. I just got a Norton 4000/8000 (but up until now, it had only been the above two.)

I've used sharpie to see where I am grinding. I am hitting the bevels (all of the marker is removed in one pass; this should mean that the bevels are very flat and I am indeed touching the edge.) I can get the razor very sharp with the DMT EF. During the process, I can drag my finger across the stone and pick up metal. However, when I go to the Spyderco UF, the blade seems less sharp. On top of that, I can barely see any metal being deposited on the stone. This is UNLIKE when I sharpen my knives. Sharpie marker IS removed from the bevels of the razor using this stone.

So I had a weird thought that maybe the Spyderco ceramic is somehow too hard for the carbon steel. So I went out and got a Norton 4000/8000 stone. It had to be finished with sandpaper on glass before use. So I went through the motions again... DMT EF... Then Norton 4000... Then 8000.

After the 8000, the bevels seem to have a brighter shine. However, the razor is STILL not hair-splitting sharp. It's about at the same point as before when I finished with the Spyderco UF for the past few months. The razor will shave, but it's not a very comfortable shave for the face (no, I don't shave other areas; I'm just saying that it can shave arm hair, for example, but you wouldn't want to shave your face with this.)

Does anybody have ANY idea what I could possibly be doing wrong? Angle can't be a problem, since the jig is "built in." I don't think pressure could be a problem; I've tried everything from heavy to light. I've heard of people finishing their razors with these stones that I'm using, so I don't think that can be the problem. Plus, I use these same stones to get hair-splitting edges on my knives. I honestly can't think of any reason that my razors aren't splitting hair. I'm about ready to get rid of all of my straight razor equipment if I can't figure this out >