This thread has finally cooled down a bit, so at the risk of stoking the flames again I'm going to suggest a theory.

It seems to me that one thing that Scott does that most of don't is to use the linen side more vigorously. If I remember correctly, Scott says he does 30 laps on the linen, starting with some pressure then easing up.

From my own experiments, the linen does a lot more than I initially thought. I noticed significant improvements in the way a razor passed the HHT just from using 30 laps on the linen. (I previously thought it just cleaned the edge and warmed it up.) I use a Tony Miller Heirloom #2.

Could this be part of Scott's success? Maybe the linen is more abrasive than we realize. Anybody else notice improvement from more use of the linen?

Just a thought,
Josh