A couple things that have helped me a great deal in my sharpening are the LN honing guide and my Dad’s old microscope. Occasionally Throwing a blade on the plate of that scope tells me a lot. I had a mystery stone that I used and when viewed under the glass I found that it was more coarse than I thought. The honing guide has just made me more consistent and I found that my certainty in my freehand skills were...wrong again!