It really is all about time I think. You just cannot become an expert on, or even moderately competent in, anything overnight. Just accumulating the knowledge necessary to be able to deal with a range of razor types and conditions, and to learn to use different kinds of stones to their full potential, can and does take years.

On top of that, and this is only my opinion, I think expert honers have to be expert stroppers and ideally expert shavers too - a holistic approach as it were. To me the term "honemeister" is inadequate for what these kinds of guys do, because it only describes one aspect of their expertise - I prefer the term "Straightrazor Polymath"

James.