Gentlemen, thanks very much for your information, it's all been very helpful.

Can I ask, are there ever any SMALL Charnley stones to be had? 6x2 or so?

I know these are slow hones, so bigger is better, but I fear that being located in the UK may makes the big stones unobtainable, as I refuse on principle to pay 50+ GBP simply for shipping. I don't mind paying for an excellent product, but considering that I've bought Nakayama hones for less than the cost of shipping a CF from the UK...it's kind of hard to justify. Sad, that.

But a smaller hone would not only be easier to afford, but also fit my preferred honing style better.