DMT 8EE "Diamond waterstone"
I bought a case of these from DMT as I go there to pick up my stones when I place an order. I spoke with their Director of R&D who took me to his honing bench and showed me how it works. First, he recommends a breaking in period using a solution of 5 drops of Dawn dishwashing soap in 4 oz. of water. The breaking in is done with a piece of steel and he recommended the back of an old wood chisel. As I have a number of those I chose one and quickly understood why. Using the handle, it's easy to push and pull the back of the chisel across the stone. If you don't have a chisel, just use a piece of steel. I buy my used chisels at yard sales usually for a quarter or 50 cents. The breaking in period takes about 10 minutes and you'll notice a black swarf coming off of the stone. Remember to feel the surface of the stone before you start, during the breaking in, and at the end. You can hear and feel when the stone is ready. You'll also see that the back of the chisel is shiny which usually takes a few different steps to attain when one is polishing steel. That really caught my attention! What I like about it is that it's fast, it yields a nice polish, a sharp razor, and you don't have to flatten the stone... ever. The 8000 grit diamond stone is truly a breakthrough in technology from the geniuses at DMT as the diamond dust is about the same weight as the dust in the air so getting it to stick to the steel evenly and stay put while they electroplate a setting around each diamond is quite a feat.
I like the stone and am using it on more on more edges of different types as I get to know it. Will I stop using my coticule? No. I still feel it does a better job with my razor as judged by the shave. Is it better than a Norton 4k/8k. Yes, I believe it is but at $85 vs. $62 there's quite a price differential. Would I give up my DMT 8EE? Hell no! It's an awesome stone.
Now, that's for me. I love to sharpen stuff. I don't see owning one stone vs. another but instead populating my honing bench with a lot of stones all of whom have their own particular quirks, traits, and uses. The other thing to mention is that as I've watched the hone market over the years, I notice that companies don't always keep certain hones in their line. 3M does this and their extra extra coarse diamond hone is no longer available. Pity, as it was a good stone. For about 6 months in 2005, no one was selling an extra extra coarse diamond hone. You couldn't get one. Finally, DMT came up with one and I bought a case so I could have one and so my honing customers could get their hands on one. It's a real beauty for establishing or re-establishing angle geometry.