Bit of a newbie here when it comes to sharpening. I have been getting by with the M.Power PSS system the past few years, but have been wanting step it to the next level. For Christmas I asked for and received the Shapton 2000 and 5000 ceramic stones along with the MKII honing guide. Still have an Amazon gift card to put toward the Shapton 8000. I chose to go the Shapton route after watching the Wood Whisperer and after doing some digging online I felt like I couldn't go wrong with these.
I just realized that that on the WW Marc went from 1000 to 5000, and that I put the 2000 on my Christmas list instead of the 1000. Now my question to you all is can I go 2000 to 5000 or do I need to start with a coarser stone?
Also, what would you recommend for flattening the back of my chisels and keeping the Shaptons flat? I looked into the DMT lapping plate but it's not cheap (unless you compare it to the Shapton one). Any recommendations? Worst case I will get the DMT, but by the time I am done I will have about 5x as much invested in my sharpening system than I will have in the actual tools that need to be sharpened.
I appreciate any recommendations or comments.