1/4" is almost half the Norton 4K - please don't do that! lol, that's a LOT of good stone. I think that rough skin can be between 1/16 and 1/8" usually closer to the former than the latter.

The norton 4K does have a gritty feedback. That just lets you know it's removing metal. Don't underestimate the little fellow. With a light touch you can get a pretty good polish from him.

And don't fret over hair tests, they can be misleading. When you come off a 1K or 2K hone, you also have a pretty toothy edge. Might be able to snap hair pretty easily, but shaving with it is liable to be might uncomfortable. The 4K will go a long way to straightening that out, but in the process you lose those saw teeth that are catching and shearing hair.

I'd say scope out the edge under magnification. That'll tell you better how well the hones are polishing the edge. Unless you've burnished your 2K ceramic hone, there's almost no way it should be making a finer edge than a 4K hone.