Quote Originally Posted by Lynn View Post
With the Naniwa Chosera and Super Stones, I simply spray them with water until they quit drinking which basically means the water starts to pool on top of them vs. soaking into them. The Naniwa plates and Norton plates work OK on their respective stones, but not so well on any other stones. I prefer the GDLP which is pretty expensive or the DMT 325 or Atoma plates for every day use. I don't obsess over flattening either. Mostly flat is good for me. I use them more for cleaning and the flattening is just part of the process. You can tell however, when you get mostly flat when the color of the stone is consistent vs. some areas of the stone having the dirty color you started with after use. The stones definitely need to be wet when cleaning/lapping them particularly with the Naniwa flattening stone or it will gunk up.

Be careful using the Naniwa's on either heavy knives or tools as they are soft feeling which makes them great for straight razors, but they can be gouged by the bigger knives or tools.

Have fun.
Thanks Lynn. That has been really helpful too. I've decided not to use the Naniwa flattening stone and I'm looking at a couple of Atoma plates as mentioned in the previous reply. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, much appreciated.