Hey,
sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. I have been at the straights for 2 years now and still havn't made the jump to try my own honing. Alot of the storys I read here scare me lol. But I am thinking of ordering the norton 4k/8k combo stone very soon to try my hand at it. Do you think that would be a good starting point for me? I am only going to be maintaing the edges on two dovo razors I bought from lynn. They are in great shape right now and don't need any bevel setting. just a quick sharpen here and there. I don't want to create another one of those "what stone should I buy" posts lol. so thought I would squeeze in the question here! thanks