Okay, so I am getting a Swaty in the mail, but just because, I might be buying another. I am also eying DD hones, and all sorts of barber's hones to try then keep or sell so I can figure out what I like for touch ups. Earlier I had asked what hones to buy and people said its personal preference, so for resto and honing I'm probably just getting the Norton set because of value/info out there, or going balls out and buying shaptons off the bat. However, barber's hones are cheap enough that I can **** around buying and reselling till I find what I like. I know that the "grit" is a crap shoot. Anyway, I have a few questions about the darn things in general:
1. Are they consistent throughout? ie, if I by a badly nicked one and lap it down a 1/4 inch, will it still hone right? Mostly for DD and Swaty, as I am sure I will be keeping those, but just in general, were they like natural stones, homogeneous, or do they have a weird finish layer on them?
2. I read somewhere that the 100 series of carborundum hones runs from fine to coarse as numbers increase, is this true?