Interesting comment on blade angle. This may be the reason my most comfortable shaves come from a 4/8. I may be using a shallower blade angle.If edge looks good under magnification, and does well at treetopping or HHT, whatever sharpness test you use, and you don't see any deep scratches in the bevel especially near the edge, then you should be good. Running the balsa progression again or maybe just the .1u ought to bring it home nicely. I find that a half dozen pull strokes is enough. For me. And I am only theorizing about more than a dozen possibly being excessive at coarser grits. It is a YMMV thing at this point. But if every indication is that you have a sharp Method edge, maybe it is your shave that is off, and you need to adjust to the keener edge by using a tighter shave angle. These edges, especially on a razor with an acute bevel angle, perform best with the spine barely off the face, for most shavers. I know I very nearly drag the spine on my face when shaving with a well finished Method edge, same as with a shavette and a Feather DE blade. This is I think part of the perception of greater smoothness that most Method honers experience in their shaves. Note that actually dragging the spine can make the shave feel less rather than more kind to the face. That is very much a YMMV thing I think. Having tried it, I find the razor sometimes travels in fits and starts, kind of jerky, with the spine dragging, even with the best lather I can manage. Lifting it just off the skin is a game changer, for me.
One more thing that I might mention is that a very highly polished bevel that is particularly wide can sometimes develop a sort of stiction to the face. This can make a razor feel unkind to the skin. Lately I have been giving some thought to this and I might try to come up with a workable, practical solution to that problem. Meanwhile if you are getting comfortable edges on razors with a narrower bevel but not very wide bevels, (talking about the actual width of the bevel surface) you might try your hand at Jnat finishing. Under certain conditions a Jnat finish with it's classic cloudy surface seems to break the face stiction. YMMV. Or else go back to the higher shave angle and just watch the pressure closely. There are so many factors at play here that sometimes with some razors you get unexpected results that make slight changes in technique perform better. This entire post is very much a YMMV thing. Sticking to The Method as originally posted WILL give you an astonishingly sharp edge. USUALLY with a small shave angle it will feel very smooth on the face. If none of your razors do, assuming you have a variety of razors and not just a bouquet of GDs or wedges or whatever, then you are doing something wrong. Look to the shave, as well as to the edge itself, for the answer.
I do the described stroke when finishing on stones.
