You didn't mention how much success you've had with a finishing stone before, but did say you're new at this, so is this a first attempt? I'm also new, and got thrust into honing after my very first shave. I managed to nick the strop and roll the edge severely, so I had to start with a 1K to get past the chunk that fell out of the blade and then go to the 4K. Once it looked good under a 10x loupe, I did about 15% more on the Norton 4K and 8K than Lynn suggested in his pyramid progression, due to the fact that my Dovo is a stainless. THEN, after 30 on my 16K Shapton, I wasn't satisfied with the edge at all! So I did 30 more on the Shapton, but this time I tried to start light and end even lighter on the pressure. That seemed to do the trick.