My gear arrived last evening. I soaked the stone for about 25 minutes then marked with a pencil and lapped it under running water. I also took some metal to the lapping plate beforehand and didn't see any tangible scratching on the 12k when finished. I do see Lynn's point about the stone and plate "sticking" a bit and now have a pretty good feel for avoiding that.

I took out my "challenged" razor for a touch-up to get a feel for the process. Unfortunately that particular razor has a LOT of hone wear and doesn't seem to hone well in general, especially near the shoulder. It did get a bit better, but alas I think that one is not really in need of a touch up but rather some deeper work...so I moved on to a decent razor that needed a bit more than pasted balsa.

The TI I put on the stone seemed to really "wake up" after about 10 laps (C135 blade), so I gave it 2 more (12 total) then took it to pasted balsa and leather. What a difference! The shave was just like when the razor was fresh out of the box. I have one more razor that just needs a slight touch up at this point, so I will give that one a go and see what happens!

Granted I am not setting bevels or repairing chips...but I do think the fear of really messing something up is vastly overstated. Watching the videos, taking one's time, and really paying attention to process seem to make this relatively easy, or at least far more so than I thought going into it. Once I get this dialed in and get a bit more technique...perhaps the combo stones are next!