Everything feels to be coming together... finally!
After my shave 5 minutes ago (waiting for my hair to dry so I can go to bed) I feel as if everything is starting to finally come together, with respect to razors and myself. With the addition of my Naniwa 1k, I am finally setting good bevels, which lead to some very fine edges after the Norton 4/8k and my Chinese finisher. My actual shaving technique has always seemed to progress slower than my honing and restoration skills, but after my first cold water shave tonight I feel as though I am close to being more than just adequate. I don't feel as though I need to touch this shave up with a DE, so it must be pretty decent. The only major thing I feel I need to work on is my chin and mustache area. I think both will be a matter of getting the scything motion perfected, and the correct skin stretching direction. Thanks for bearing with my 1.5yr newbiness; I just had to share this feeling of accomplishment that has been the culmination of many hours of work. Thanks to everybody for all the great information.