For lapping I picked this up, a Naniwa Flattening Stone, they are fairly inexpensive:
Naniwa Flattening Stone
Mind you, I'm not by any means someone who spends lots of time honing. I've lapped my Norton 4/8 twice, and my Nani 12k twice, using the pencil grid. I really only refresh my blades using the Nani 12k, but this Flattening stone worked fine.
Just another option....