Originally Posted by
OCDshaver
I was the same way and probably still would be looking at someone else's pics. But go ahead and set a bevel with a razor, then look closely at the scratch patterns under 200x magnification. Make a mental note of what they look like. Take it your next hone and do circles/laps until the scratch patterns have been completely replaced by the new grit. Make another mental note of how it looks. Then take it to the next stone (8k?) and do the same until the scratches are almost completely gone. Watching what is happening between each grit really helped me see the progress. But at 100x, the difference between 1k and 4k was negligible. But at 200x, I can see the difference in the patterns as the stone is doing its job. Also, at 200x I can see how rough the cutting edge is after 1k and 4k. I can literally see little spikes and protrusions. Then after 8k, its looking good. Also, if you have a razor the was honed by a pro, look closely at it under 200x. Then look at the one that may be giving you trouble. You'll probably see some things that separate them quite readily. I suppose this will be a case of YMMV but it really helped me understand what I was looking for between grits/stones. For once I could actually see things falling into place. I find the visual inspection more telling than say the thumb pad test - which I've never been able to determine anything from.