Good afternoon fellow dustmakers ( I guess I should say shavingmakers in this section).
I posted a few days ago about the necessity for an 8000ws. I ventured down to Lee valley to exchange an item and got into looking at the Norton lineup of waterstones. Well, I ended up with a 1000/4000x Norton waterstone and am now wondering if I made the right decision. Here is my thinking: originally I had bought the 1000/4000x combination stone for cost reasons but now I am thinking that for an extra $40cdn I could have purchased a full size (8x3x1) of each stone. Basically, a dedicated stone for each purpose. 1000x and 4000x on their own instead of a combination stone. Currently I own the Norton flattening stone and a full size Norton 220x that just gets used for removing severe damage on a plane blade or chisel. If I returned the comb. stone and purcahsed a 1000x nd a 4000x on their own, would that be any better? Then If I feel the need to travel into the 8000x stones at a later date I could always do that. That way I would have the full set of 8x3x1 ws from Norton.
I guess what this post really boils down to are these few questions.
1. Is there any disadvantage to combination stones? If so, what?
2. For those of you who use Norton stones, which do you consider mandatory for your shop and which grits could you deal with not having?
Thank you all in advance for taking the time to help a rookie sharpener.
Kevin