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My progression with Shapton Kuromakus is 1/2/5/12. 1 to 5 is a bit of a jump, it can be done but it really helps to have something following up the 1K to bridge that gap. But going from 5k to 12k...

If you're trying to get away from soaking your options are Naniwa Traditional/SS/Chosera or Shapton GS/Pro(Kuromaku). Harder stone? I'd probably lean toward Shaptons. I have a Naniwa SS 800 somewhere...