Again I'll say this: It is easier to hone on a definitively flat hone, but completely unnecessary. That being said, I doubt Grags' new hone/s are anything but relatively flat. Besides, a rolling X stroke can solve pretty much any honing dilemma if you learn how to do it. Grags won't need to even do that. We are not talking dished hones that Norton sends out. If that were the case, Norton's products would indeed fail in the market like Chimensch said... but they never have. If your Norton looks flat, then just use it. If not, call Norton back.