I would return the Chinese stone and buy a coticule, either a bout (irregular shape) at $65 or a 6x2 at $78. You'll see a world of difference. It will wring out the last bit of performance from your blade and give you a better result than the Norton. I get a fair amount of correspondence about that Chinese stone and some like and some don't depending pretty much on experience with other stones. Personally, I don't like it and feel it's misgraded at 12k.