Cheapo Kamisori from Ebay for Honing Practice

Hey Folks!

I haven't posted in a while, as I received a funky $40-ish Kamisori from eBay that I've been practicing honing. I believe the maker is Toshihide, as I've seen a couple similar blades posted with writing that looked nearly the same (I don't read Japanese so this may be completely ignorant of me to assume).

I've been practicing honing with an 6000-8000 whetstone, and finishing up the blade on some CrOx balsa wood. After at least twenty attempts at getting the blade setup properly I think I've finally gotten an acceptable result (I'm using the Kousuke Iwasaki's book as a guide). The blade is now shaving extremely smoothly and I couldn't be happier. I'm looking forward to developing this skill and I've been so stoked to find the sheer volume of information available on this site.

I have two questions:

1) I notice that the omote on this blade looked extremely well-worn, yet when I've been honing it the 'polished' portion doesn't make any contact with the stone, in fact the blade seems to hone as if the blade was brand new and still had as much curve on the omote as it would have when first made. Any advice/insight on Kamisoris and the condition they tend to be found in?

2) Is there a set of rules for setting a bevel on the omote side of the blade? Should it never be adjusted and simply be honed in a 7:1 ratio? I finally reset the bevel of the omote and it led to a much smoother shave, so I'm assuming this must be some sort of useful practice. Any info on the geometry of Kamisoris would be great.

I figure this post really focuses in on this Kamisori so I've hopefully posted it in the right place, if not my most sincere apologies!

Attachment 122407 Attachment 122408 Attachment 122409 Attachment 122410 Attachment 122411