Hi all, well, as a newbie I'm starting to get into hones. Currently I have a Chinese 12k that I lap on sandpaper. But I've been thinking about getting a Norton 4000/8000 and possibly a Norton 220/1000 to try my hand at restoring some blades as well as for general use on all other blades and knives. My question is, what do people think about the Norton lapping stone (here is the one I'd get, it doesn't say it's a norton, but it looks like it is no less Truing Stone for Water Stones - Lee Valley Tools). I've ruled out lapping Norton stones with paper because I've heard it can be chancy, and I don't know if I want to spend the extra money on a DMT 8C.

So, what do people think of the norton SiC lapping stone (I'd be using it only on the nortons)? Also, I've heard it sometimes needs to be relapped itself; how frequent is this? I don't plan on putting much wear on the hones as I don't think I'd use them too much; but if I'm going to need to relap the lapping stone itself with any regularity on a DMT I might as well just get the DMT from the start and forget the norton for lapping.

Thanks for any and all advice!