Its all about the bevel!!

[jmac123]

I have been honing my razors for a couple of months with varying degrees of success. Mostly not good. As strange as this might sound, I had the great fortune this evening of dropping my poorly honed razor which put a divot in the edge. I took the razor to my little used 1000 grit Naniwa stone and did hundreds of circles and x-stokes to finally remove any sign of the damage. During this process, I gradually fell in love with my 1000 grit stone. After the chip was removed, I found that I had put a beautiful bevel on the edge. It would pop hairs better that my previous honing efforts. I then progressed to the Norton 4K and 8K and eventually to a Naninwa 12K following Lynn's honing technique. Wow!! I got the sharpest best shaving edge yet.
I think what I have taken away from this experience is to understand that the foundation of a great edge is a great bevel. From how on, I will make sure I have a good bevel before moving on.

Thanks to all who have posted good honing advise. I think it finally clicked!
John