Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Razor: Boker 20th Century 5/8 full hollow. Prior to honing the razor would shave some arm hair and couldn't pass the HHT. I went through the progression:
6 micron (brown) ~ 4K grit: 30 laps
3 micron (purple) ~ 8K grit: 30 laps
1 micron (green) ~ 16K grit: 40 laps
0.3 micron (white) ~ 30K grit: 50 laps. Cut a piece of paper slightly smaller than the film, put it on lapping plate, poured a bit of water and then put the film on top of the paper.
Didn't get a lot of feedback. 0.3 micron gave me the most feedback. Razor didn't pass the hanging hair test but could shave arm hair.
CrOX on balsa: 60 laps. Barley passed the HHT.
Iron Oxide on balsa: 40 laps. Slightly better.
Stropped on leather 60 laps.
Shaved in the morning; the edge felt very smooth and forgiving but no sharp enough.
I don't know what I am doing wrong. I am using very light pressure, maybe I need to increase it.
Did you try to raise a burr, or try the sharpie test? If you have a good bevel, two laps on 1u should leave no ink on the edge with the sharpie test. It sounds like you are not getting your edge past the 4k stage, maybe not even up to it. Don't worry... light pressure is good. The weight of the razor and about half a finger weight is fine. Also, examine the bevel under a magnifying glass in very bright light. As you tip and turn the razor, you should see a perfectly flat bevel all the way out to the edge, with no change in the angle needed to keep the reflection the same all the way out. TNT might be of some value, too. Shaving arm hair is almost worthless, because even your kitchen knives or your pocketknife should do that.
If it won't pass the sharpie test, you need to get some coarser medium and set that bevel properly. If there is some reason why you can't get some 1k grit wet/dry paper or a nice wide 1k stone or some 12u film, you could try more (LOTS more) laps on the 6u film. You should feel a sort of suction between the blade and film once that stage has done its job. If you don't feel it, don't stop. It might take a couple hundred laps if the edge has significant rounding. Maybe even more. After you feel the draw increase due to suction, give it another dozen laps and start your progression. You WILL feel a subtle difference when it is time to move up a grit.
When you have all the i's crossed and t's dotted, and everything is coming together for you, you will probably find the .3u film actually creates an edge that is TOO sharp. Obviously, something is amiss. I believe it is lack of a proper flat and true bevel. If your bevel is good, then 30 to 40 laps per stage should give a sharp edge.