Originally Posted by
Utopian
OK, back to reality. Even though Lynn says with the Naniwa (I'll assume SuperStones) you can go 1,3,8,12k or 1,5,8,12k, (and I completely agree) I personally prefer 1,2,5,8,12k because I really want to cut down the stria of the 1k hone with the 2k hone. Now, I actually do go 1,2,3,5,8,10,12k but I know the 3 and 10k are by far the most redundant, so that is my own OCD. Among the two progressions Lynn recommends, I prefer the 1,3,8,12k for the same reason I already suggested--I want to do the best I can to cut down the stria of the 1k.
Adding the 5k after the 3k will do little to improve your progression to the 8k, but it will make you feel better now that you have it!
I highly recommend that you do the patient route of honing now that you have this progression. Hone to 1k and strop and shave. Next day hone to 3k and strop and shave. Continue that way to feel how each hone affects the shave. In my experience with my face I found that the 2k was better than the 1k, but the 3k sometimes shaved worse than the 2k but then the 5k and on up continued to improve it.