I've honed about 200 razors. I currently own about 100, the majority ebay and flea market finds.

Not counting those I've come across with obvious defects (cracks, corrosion in the bevel) that render them unusable, two of my hundred seem impervious to any strategy or stone in my arsenal. That is, I can set the bevel and sharpen them, and they will shave, but are clearly inferior to my other blades, leaving minor stubble. visual inspection reveals no obvious faults. I've tried multiple natural finishers as well as a Nani 12k.

So I calculate my failure rate on older, well used blades with no obvious visual defects at 2%. Actually, one of them appears to have been reground, and then steel near the bevel has a distinct bluish hue, and I wonder if the temper was altered on that one. The other is a Lion Brand Yankee Cutlery made in Germany with no visual anomalies. It will not take a good edge.

So, is a 1-2% failure rate in the ballpark? Should I just bin these? Or am I the one failing, even after multiple attempts?