I had my Filarmonica Doble Temple 7/8 honed by Lynn back in May and have been shaving with it for 5 months now and it has really kept its hone. Just started noticing a slight pulling of my beard when shaving but I could probably have shaved another month with it.

My new Norton 4000/8000 Waterstone arrived the other day and I could not wait to use it. I set out to use the pyramid for the Norton and did 1 pass on the 4k followed by 5 on the 8k and then stropped for 35 passes. When I did the test shave it lost its edge completely. So I went up the pyramid doing (4k:8K:leather) 1:5:35, 3:5:35, 5:5:35 I honed the blade to where it will shave the hair off my arm but only glides over my beard.

Fearing I would damage the blade I resigned to send it off to Lynn again. I noticed some uneven wear on the spine that was not there before and think the hone might not be level. My question is, "Should I go ahead and lap my stone on both sides? or shoud I be able to use it right out of the box?"

Now since this is my first time attempting to hone, it could very well be my technique and I may just need some more practice.

CS