I have the three Nortons: 1000, 4000, 8000. I keep all three in one of those plastic hospital wash basins, submerged, standing on their sides. I rinse the higher grit stones before using with a water spritzer but I'm wondering if I should be using separate tubs.
When I turn a burr at 8000, the bevel is like a mirror but there are still occasional deep-ish scratches that look like 1000 grit scratches. I believe my blades also fail at these points, creating micro divots in the edge, perhaps causing a return to the sharpening station before I should need to.
I also place each stone on the same surface when sharpening.
I've seen pictures of "ponds" with multiple stones in them, but hmm.
What do the experts do to avoid grit contamination?
Thanks, Herv