First, I applaud your determination, @TheBeast!
Secondly, @Slash McCoy makes an important point about taking a break to mull things over.
On one hand, you want to consciously understand what you are doing but on the other hand you want to subconsciously trust what you are doing.
In the end, you are rubbing steel on stone trying to shape a bevel and then remove scratches from the previous stone. Feeling the edge of the blade on the stone and watching the edge displace/undercut water (liquid) should help you achieve this.
But why is it so difficult sometimes?
In a perfect world, the blade has a perfectly straight edge with a 17.5 degree bevel. You lay the blade on the stone and evenly rub the blade on the stone applying the appropriate amount of pressure on the edge and spine. Let's call this the basic theme.
If you don't only buy NOS Filarmonica razors, this is often not the case. And here we enter the world of variations on the theme like a blade with a smile, an uneven grind or warp, a chipped edge, a bevel whose angle is too acute to hold an edge, etc.
And this is why people measure bevel angles, use rolling x-strokes, etc.
Secondly, @Slash McCoy makes an important point about taking a break to mull things over.
On one hand, you want to consciously understand what you are doing but on the other hand you want to subconsciously trust what you are doing.
In the end, you are rubbing steel on stone trying to shape a bevel and then remove scratches from the previous stone. Feeling the edge of the blade on the stone and watching the edge displace/undercut water (liquid) should help you achieve this.
But why is it so difficult sometimes?
In a perfect world, the blade has a perfectly straight edge with a 17.5 degree bevel. You lay the blade on the stone and evenly rub the blade on the stone applying the appropriate amount of pressure on the edge and spine. Let's call this the basic theme.
If you don't only buy NOS Filarmonica razors, this is often not the case. And here we enter the world of variations on the theme like a blade with a smile, an uneven grind or warp, a chipped edge, a bevel whose angle is too acute to hold an edge, etc.
And this is why people measure bevel angles, use rolling x-strokes, etc.