I did my best to keep my honing setup cheap. I started out with the 3M papers (thanks, WildTim!), but couldn't stop there. So I got a DMT 8E, a DMT 8EE, a Chinese 12k, a four sided paddle strop with 1, .50, and .25 pastes, and an old Swaty three line.

Generally, I've been fairly happy with this setup. Minimum investment, and I'm able to get some pretty good edges on most of my blades. However, try as I might, I just couldn't get my Hess 44 Stainless sharpened without getting some microchips in the blade. It looks like this is a case of where being frugal really didn't pay off.

So I sent the Hess off to be sharpened by Lynn. Which means I'm gonna need an appropriate finishing stone to maintain that edge eventually. I haven't been *really* impressed by the edges left from the swaty or the chinese 12k. So I'm looking to you guys to suggest an appropriate finishing stone for stainless steel that won't microchip the edge. It seems that the swaty and the chinese 12k just aren't harsh enough to cut that tough stainless steel, but if you go to a stone that *is* harsh enough to cut it, it microchips the blade. So I need something that falls into a vary slim margin: harsh enough to cut the stainless, gentle enough to not microchip it.

The diamond pastes on the paddle strop don't seem to improve the edge *at all*, which really surprised me, as I have really been happy with the results I get from the paddle on all my regular carbon steel blades. Great newb setup, for sure.

Right now I'm leaning toward the Shapton 16k, but would love to get some suggestions from you guys before I spend the cash.

I'm also wondering if a complete line of Shaptons ( 1k, 4k, 8k, 16k) would be appropriate should I (or rather, when I) get more stainless blades. Any problems with microchipping stainless from the Shaptons? I'm talking about the shapton on glass series, not the pro series.

thanks in advance!