To bevel or not to bevel...
Hello, I have a 5/8 Dovo with under 100 shaves on it. I have had it honed twice by members on this site. I messed up my edge by bad stropping and made it worse by trying to freshen it up on my Arkansas Surgical Black. Don't think it made it better. I got the Norton 250/1k, 4k/8k water stone kit for Christmas. I have lapped all the stones including the ceramic flattening stone. I practiced honing on my H. Boker and it is not up to spec but I suspect that one is more challenging to hone b/c of the blade being thicker, almost a wedge. Also it's a smiling blade. I did 3 passes on the 1k grit and then did passes from the 4k to the 8k going 20/20, 15,15, 10/10, 5/5, 1/5, 1/7 and then 20 on the Arkansas Black. The shave wasn't great, but I haven't ever had a great shave on that razor.
My question is, w/out a loupe, how do I know if I need to rebevel my Dovo and if I do it how do I know if it's there? How many passes on the 250 does it take to set a bevel? I am making a New Year's resolution to use my straights and I now have everything (except honing and shaving skill) to make it all happen. Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!