Keep it flat - it's not so simple
In my previous post First Thing That Comes to Mind (http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...omes-mind.html) I have talked about my process of gaining knowledge to attempt to hone the razor for the first time and asked for some quick advice. Not surprisingly the answers gravitated towards 'keep it flat', 'light pressure' and 'mark the blade so you can tell that you're making the contact along the entire length of the blade'. All this made perfect sense...
My first attempt to hone went ok. Ok enough to shave with it but, I wasn't happy with the sharpness I got. So I went back at it, and (here's a shocker for a newb honer) actually dulled the blade. Somehow I managed not to jack up the bevel. Stubborn ass in me left it for a day and tried again. This time, I made progress, but I sharpened only the heel while the toe remained dull.
At this point I realised that I'm likely not keeping the blade flat (although it appeared to be flat while I'm honing). At this point I did exactly what most instructional videos and advice tell you NOT to do - I used the other hand on the toe to keep it flat and add extra pressure to the toe. Long story short, I got the razor sharp in the entire length of the blade and it actually shaves great. What worries me is that I won't be able to repeat my performance.
So here is the question: how do you know that the razor is ACTUALLY flat? Stupid question, I know, as most answers will most likely be something like "eventully you'll get a feel for it". So the follow up is: why not use the other hand to keep it flat with the understanding that that touch needs to be supper, ultra light?
I'm asking open ended questions, so once again, I'm more interested in your thoughts than that one answer to solve it all.
Cheers!