Thanks, but I'm very familiar with DMT's and picked up a F/VF double quite reasonably. I've also got a Swaty barber hone incoming. I figure I just need to bridge the gap, and at $50+ for a 4000, $80+ for a 4000/8000, the norton is more than I'm willing to spend. At that range, I'd rather grab a DMT8EE since I hear it chews as fast as a 4k norton anyway... I'm mainly looking at king Ice Bear 4k or 6k right now as they are sub $30 each.

(so it'd be 1.2k -> 4/6 -> ~10k)

Do you think those would work well, and if so, which would be more useful do you expect. I'm leaning towards the 4k, as that'd give me ~9micron->~3micron->~1micron vs 9->2->1.

I've never sharpened anything past ~4k grit before though, so I'm just making an assumption on that point.



... A big part of the reason I went DMT instead of the Norton set, beyond my personal preference is that I figure I can use the F side to lap my stones... not as fast as using a course, but I think I'll manage.