Part of your problem might lie in your shaving technique. Re-evaluate your angle and pressure. Also make sure you are reducing your beard sufficiently before going ATG.
1u will generally be too fine to use for bringing a dulled edge back to life. It is a finisher. However, 1u alone could be very good for regular maintenance of your edge.
6u will be a little coarse to get much of any result from HHT. After 12u or 6u you should visually examine your edge under a very strong magnifying glass in bright light. You should see a good flat reflection from the bevel. Remember, the edge of your bevel is the edge of your razor. So you should see the reflection like a nice flat mirror all the way out to the edge. Also turn the razor edge-up and look for any microscopic reflective spots which would indicate a flaw in the edge.
At this point, if all is well, you should see some useful results from HHT. Shaving arm hair with the razor against the skin should be easy. This is after all equivelant roughly to an 8k Norton, and the edge should already be much sharper than the average pocketknife. The average pocketknife ought to shave your forearm hair with absolutely no problems.
At this point, you should be able to wave the blade 1/4" above your arm, not even touching the skin at all, and it should lop the top off of some hairs.
No, the mistake was probably not starting with a coarser film. Remember, the finer the film, the more slowly it cuts. Possibly a couple hundred laps on the 1u might have done the trick. But the best way would have been to start with 3u or even 6u. When everything is as it should be, 0.3u will usually give you an edge that is a bit on the harsh side. Also now that you know what the feedback feels like, watch for it when using coarser films. When you start to feel that suction-y resistance, go another dozen laps and then change film, usually. That means that your current film has done pretty much all it can do to improve the edge.6. Moved to 0.3 (white). At least 30 laps. Bald spot! It cut a big patch of hair with one stroke resulting in a bald spot! I was ecstatic! There was some feedback. The laps weren't as smooth.
7. Washed the lapping plate and film and left to dry. Wiped the blade dry with paper towel.
8. Stropped the blade on leather at least 50 laps. Blade passed the HHT.
Shaved with the razor and the improvement was very noticeable. The blade didn't tug and pull as it did before. There is still room for improvement. I want the blade to be sharper; it'll help on the ATG passes.
Needless to say I am very happy with my first attempt at honing. I was also surprised at how much I liked the process. Now I want a Coticule to compare the results
One mistake that I might have made was that after doing Step #2 (30 laps on 1µ) I should have moved to 0.3µ. I don't know.
The important thing is that you actually went hands-on and familiarized yourself with the tools. Your edge improvement gave you some gratification and confidence. You now have a base of experience to work from. You now know something about feedback. You now know that a finisher is too fine to be a fast sharpener. Now maybe you could try the whole process all over again, but begin by setting a whole new bevel, using all the tricks that you now know. The secret of course is to have a good, flat, full length bevel. Everything else just builds upon that. It is your foundation. Finer films just refine it and do not establish the geometry. Normally, needless bevel setting is wasteful, creating unneccessary wear, but it probably should be done this once. I think your original bevel is suspect, and also the experience will do you good. Look for the feedback from the coarser films too, before progressing to a finer film.
