Sorry guys, I know you're all sick of all the "what hone should I buy?" threads, but I'm stuck, too.

OK, here's what I have...

Just ordered today: DMT Dia-Sharp 8E (1.2k equiv), DMT Dia-sharp 8EE (8k equiv)

Stuff I already have: an ancient 3 line Franz Swaty, a Tony Miller four sided paddle strop, pasted 1.0, .50, .25, and bare. I also have a bunch of 3M papers, but I'm not planning on continuing to use them after my DMT's get here.

What I plan to do: I really like the honing aspect of straight razors. About as much as the shaving, really. So I'm going to be buying and honing lots of ebay razors and giving them as gifts. I also have a bunch of old straights that were my great grandfathers. So I do have quite a bit of honing in front of me.

I just sent one of my razors off to Glen today so I have a benchmark razor that will be my standard to which all of my honing jobs will be measured.

I'd really like a "finishing stone" in the 12k-16k range, but I really don't want to spend the hundred bucks on a Shapton. Also, since I'm a total newb, I'd prefer a stone with a relatively gentle learning curve; I'd rather not have to do slurries, no slurries, wet, then dry on the same stone to get a finished edge, but at the same time, I'm not *totally* against it, either, if it'll save marital strife when the Visa bill arrives.

So my head is swimming with the possibilities.... Chinese 12k's, shaptons, coticules, etc. etc. etc.

What I'd really like is a relatively cheap stone that's gonna give me a good finish. LOL, I guess that's what we *all* want, really.

Help?