But seriously...

So I got my Norton 4/8k and the accompanying Norton flattening stone, and I found that after quite a while I was getting nowhere. Granted, the hone was pretty well deformed (the sides where the 4k side meets the 8k side don't completely meet where they should be tightly sandwiched on the ends). I ended up laying a sheet of 24 grit silicon carbide on top of the flattening stone and going from there - MUCH better. Finally made progress (240 grit actually ;) somebody prolly had a heart attack reading 24 lol).

Anyway, just wanted to see if this was normal, the flattening stone working verrrrry slowly?

Cheers!

I have not used the flattening stone but for me the sandpaper is my choice.

I've never used the flattening stone either. I bought a DMT D8C coarse for lapping since it has multiple uses around the house. It laps pretty fast and works best with light pressure. Mine has spent over 80 hours lapping some pretty hard hones and still works ok.