I thought I would update all the fine fellows who helped me make a decision.
Having received my BBW, I set about ruining my razors. After I learned restraint, and honed my honing technique, things are going along swimmingly. I have now reached the point where I can take a razor that I find unacceptble in terms of shaving quality, and bring it up to a very comfortable edge, and also passing the HHT. It feels great to now be self sufficent ( mainly ) in terms of keeping my razors sharp.
Thank you all for the help you have given me, and I encourage those out there who are thinking about starting the honing process to give it a go, caring for your own razors is a satisfying experience.
How times change, and how we may be embarrassed by our past pronouncements! Searching for my previous attempts at coticule only finishing, I found this thread. I cannot recall doing the things I describe above, though no doubt I did. Now I'm finding the coticule can be a good finish stone, if used correctly, and without all the palaver of gradually decreased slurry concentration.
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse." Pierre-Simon de Laplace