This thread is all over the place so I'll just address one thing for now. I have a hard time reconciling the concept of "easy to lap" with a Turkish oil stone. They tend to be quite hard. If that is in fact oil deep in the hone surface, that also suggests that it is only an "alleged" Turkish stone but not actually one.

Another issue. I really like the Shapton DGLP lapping plate, but it is not necessary for lapping or refreshing the Shapton 16k. Any diamond plate or even w/d sandpaper can be used in its place.