I been wanting to touch up and maintain my edge on my two straights since I've noticed that the edge started to degrade after 2-3 weeks steady use. Not so it wouldn't shave, but some irritation and eventually weepers would creep into my shaves. When I switch to my freshly honed razor, that all goes away. I figured if I got some hones I could give the razor a touch up every couple/few weeks as needed in between major honings.

The blades I have are from the SRP classifieds and have been honed by the sellers for me to date.

Today, I tried to touch up my solingen 9/16 and basically dulled it so that it will hardly shave at all. First, I found getting a good consistent honing stroke more challenging than I thought. I eventually got better at it after some time, but the dulling had already been done.

I've read and read the Wiki and as many forum posts as I could find. 'Watched the Lynn and Glen videos on youtube. I did everything I could to hedge my bet. At times, the razor would start to get sharper (it felt somewhat like a very sharp knife as described by Lynn in one of his bevel setting videos off a 1K). But then I would try to get a keener, shave ready edge on it and it would just get duller again.

At this point, I've confirmed that I have no clue what I'm doing or how to bring the razor back, or even if that's possible now with only the stones I have. I probably made most, if not all the mistakes a newb honer can make, but I don't even know what those were since I don't know what I may have done wrong or right at this point.

What I chose to get for finishing/touch up stones were the Welsh Naturals from AJ that many have been talking about recently on the forum. The stones I have are a 9" x 2" Dragon's Tongue, an 8" x 3" Lynn Melynlyn, and a 9" x 2" darker, finer grit slate (the third hone in AJ's three hone set that some have coined "Welsh or English Thuringian" for lack of a true name for it). I lapped them to 400 with sandpaper. They are flat and certainly feel smooth, as far as I can tell (all the grid marks sand off...).

I honed with tape and started on the finest stone (I'll call it ET for short for lack of an actual name) doing X strokes only. I started with 30 strokes total--10 with slurry, 10 with diluted slurry, and 10 with water only. When that didn't work. I kept honing (perhaps another mistake) and checked the blade every 10 strokes. I tried with slurry, diluted slurry, water only. I eventually tried moving from the DT up through the LM, to the ET. I had varying degrees of sharpness and dullness throughout the several hours I attempted to hone this razor--nothing close to shave ready. The blade is now so jacked up it doesn't really shave at all. It is a door stop on my face. I got a cheap 30x lighted loop to look at the edge. However, while it's interesting to look at, I have no idea what I'm looking for, honestly. The edge looks similar to those I've seen in posted pics here on the forum.

How the heck did the better part of the masses keep their blades touched up in the heyday of straights if it was this easy to tank an edge? I can't believe that everyone was an inherent pro at honing. I must be complicating this more than it needs to be?

So my questions now are -- Do I need to go back to a 1K or something, to bring this blade back? Do I stand a chance of getting a shave ready edge on it with the stones I have? I don't have the cash for more stones at the moment. I figured if I could get some finishers first and was able to touch up a pro honed edge for a while, that I would eventually get a 1K, and maybe a 4K or something and eventually become self contained with regards to maintaining my own edge. That was the plan anyway. Folly indeed!

I know there are many, many fine points to honing and creating a shave ready edge and it seems everyone has their personal preferences. I've read so much info here on the forum that my head just starts spinning at times. But I remember Lynn saying in one of his videos that when he started honing, there wasn't the internet, there weren't any fancy stones like the nortons etc, and a wealth of information to tap into. He even mentioned that he'd honed on pumice before and it all worked out OK.

I'm not saying that I don't want to learn the finer points of honing. But I'd love to find a way to simplify some of this so that I can touch up and maintain my own edge and not send out for to a pro to touch up the blade every few weeks. Any advice would be much appreciated since I just don't have a clue at this point how to proceed and I don't want to just keep honing and honing blindly if it's going to get me nowhere I want to be.

Thanks...