Oh yeah. I too, struggled with Naniwa SStones. Mine were warping a lot. Breaking Also. Its still hard to lap them flat, even after gluing them to thick acrylic. They were not very beginner friendly for me. And also, they were far from flat when I thought they were flat enough. Pencil Grid does not tell the whole story of flatness. A precision straightedge does. I like it better when it's straightedge level flat, others don't. But my honing took off after switching to Shapton Pros and making them straightedge level flat. I Also like the 1.5k as a bevel setter. Oh and one more thing, putting a Stone against a laping plate and rubbing along only makes the stones flat if you have a precision laping solution, such as a very expensive DMT plate. With an Atoma, I have to work with the Stone and use Pressure strategically, while referencing against a straightedge.
Biggest lesson for me was to pay maximum attention to every tiny detail. At first it is a chore, now it's second Nature. And a Lifetime skill.
Biggest lesson for me was to pay maximum attention to every tiny detail. At first it is a chore, now it's second Nature. And a Lifetime skill.