Also take a look at Keith V Johnson's you tube channel. He has a review of 8k synthetics. The comparison is quite interesting. The low grit Naniwa stones have a reputation for cracking, I think in the cold, but in truth this has only happened to me with a Shapton 8k Pro. The Shapton grit rating is important. I was trying to finish on a Shapton 12k but it was too coarse more like a 10k. I have also found that the 1.5k Shapton to be a better bevel setter than the 1k. YMMV.
I’ve checked out some of his videos. Good stuff! The discrepancies in grit among like stones are one of the reasons I’m leaning towards (but by no means have I decided completely) the glass type. From what I understand, they are more uniform from stone to stone.
I've been learning to hone on Arkansas hones. Soft, hard, surgical black that have two different grit finesse on each side. It's been doing the trick for my honing needs but still have some learning to go. Like which steel easily gets where it needs to be with them, finding the progress based on feel and microscope. One razor. GD66, needs to honed to sharp then two layers of tape to get a micro bevel to perform great. They are naturals and not the same as the next of the same type but it's working. Much better off then my Belgium Blue or Coticule Yellow.
