Shapton0501 Naoru Correction Powder with Rough and Medium Grams

OK, I admit right up front that I am rather a newbie at this Bench Stone sharpening and the partner that automatically goes hand in hand with it; that is 'flattening the bench stones you've been using'.Having purchased a few other than Shapton stones before buying three of theirs (#500, #2000, & #8000) and using a relatively cheap flattening stone from another name brand I thought to myself that if I'm going to use the best bench stones available (Shapton), then I'm probably going to have to purchase one of their flattening stones. Good thinking! I've since received, and used this stone from them. What a difference it makes! One piece of advice from a newbie who has now flattened virtually all of the dozen various bench stones that I own and that I use on this flattening stone, use the enclosed (with this stone) one of the two bottles of 'flattening grit' (Coarse or Medium) to watch a virtual miracle take place.After first receiving it, I thought, wrongly, that if my current stones weren't in that bad of shape that I wouldn't need the powdered grit that is supplied with this stone; Wrong! Oh, I could've probably done the job all right, but would have worn out both my patience and my arms! Use the supplied powdered grit that comes with it, and though it is somewhat expensive (what isn't about this hobby we have?), it cuts the time and effort at least in half; no, much more than that actually!Where I made my second mistake was to try and preserve the powdered grit since it is a little costly; well, I paid for that too and soon discovered that 'slopping' on the grit truly is the way to go, I mean the grit doesn't dissolve, right?! My entire job became much less than a breeze, but surely eased up the dread of having to flatten the many stones that I foresee in my future. The rule of thumb that I now use, after going flattening my current bench stone inventory twice is this; after adding just enough water to fill the grooves of the flattening plate without adding so much that the grit begins to run over the sides, and just adding enough grit (you'll definitely know by the sound!) to do the job (just don't splash too much water on which will quickly wash all the grit you've just added; of course, the more grit you put on the plate the better and quicker you will get the results you want! I truly does cut your work in half!One other item I might mention: when the description of this stone says that it's heavy believe it; that's just what you want and need to keep the entire job from slipping all over the bench in front of you. I haven't put it on a scales yet but it has to go around five lbs. or so. Perfect!Thank you for reading my review and good luck!