Thread: My first hone result with pictures

This is my first straight a new thier issard 6/8 one of the best they have. It came very sharp and shave ready. I had it for 6 months and been using a suede paddle with diamond paste on one side to keep it sharp. It has been blunt for a few months now and I was still shaving with it getting a very poor shave. I could feel the paste had overhoned the blade and I could feel the blade rolling on my skin instead of cutting. I have been watching many honing videos (Lynn especially) and so I finally did my first hone. All my stones were lapped with an atoma 1200 diamond. I have a chocera 2000, a shapton glass 6000 and a naniwa 12000. I used water spray on all stones to keep them wet. I used 3M black tape on the spine since I have a mirror finish razor.

I use the arm hair test ( root, middle and top)
I first tried 6000 followed by 12000 the blade could not cut hair at all. So I started working on the chocera 2000 to set a new bevel. i did 40 strokes some straight and some in circle followed by 30 strokes on the Shapton 6000 and finally 20 on the naniwa 12000. The blade still was not cutting any better.

So i started again with the 2000 this time applying some pressure and spending at least 10 minutes on the 2000. it grabbed hairs but did not cut them easily. Same thing after the 6000 failed arm patch test. Finally after spending time on the 12000 with very light strokes it would finally cut arm hairs and leave a blank patch but does not cut a hanging hair. I shaved with it and it was not bad, acceptable but certainly not where it should be. Nowhere as good as when the blade was new. A slight pressure was needed to do a close shave and even then it was not that close. I apologize for the pictures quality they were taken all taken after I was done honing with a Lomb 10X loupe and a simple webcam but gives you an idea.

How come my blade didn't cut after the 2000 and even after 6000 only after the 12000 ? I got the shiny bevel all along the edge on both sides.
What mistake could I be making ?
What should I do to to make it better ?