Great stuff.

I have a chinee 12k in the post from Poland, at least they said it was in the post, I'm still waiting.

I wanted the Swaty as a travelling stone really, so I only need one.

I didn't want to put the Tam and the chinese 12k in my backpack, too much to lose or break, they will stay on the special shaving shelf that will be built in my new bathroom, or maybe an airtight, condensation-proof shaving drawer, depends just how obsessive I get.

That sounds like a perfect use for a barber hone. They are much lighter and smaller than some of the larger stones.

Would the chinese 12k do as a one and only touch up hone, like a modern day equivalent of the barbers hone? If so maybe I will get a second one if the first one works well enough.

Yes they would serve the same purpose. I also think that the Chinese 12K is available in a smaller and thinner size (maybe 8X2) which would probably work a lot better for traveling than the monster 8X3

I'm liking the sound of finishing on newspaper too, anything that good and basically free is right up my street.

Right now I'm playing around with cigar ash on the linen strop after the Norton8k or the Tam, but my skills aren't up to making that jump just yet. I'm still getting microchipping that i can see with the eye, maybe over-honing, the ashed linen will put on a wire edge if over used too.

So many variables, maybe another hone is not what I need.

Still why stop at the essentials?

Another great option to look into would be a quality 6X2 Belgian Coticule. You can get them from Howard at theperfectedge.com. They cut quick enough to keep a razor going forever and are fine enough to leave an edge that is tough to beat with any honing media.

Have Fun!