Hi Kootanai, Welcome Aboard,
Just to address your honing issue, if you are getting high spots where the stone is not reaching the edge, I would suggest that possibly you did not go far enough with your coarse stone. The intial bevel must be complete for the rest to work. A tip I have learned: I hone with a light about 18" above my work surface. Hold your razor horizontal with the edge away from you. Slowly rotate the edge up and around. You will see the shine from the bevel on the side nearest you, and as you rotate you will see a shine from the opposite side. When finished with the first stone, you don't want any shine between the two. If there is, you have not gotten the bevels to where they meet at the edge.
Good Luck,