Honing is the stage that decides clarity. Grit order is not a tradition; each step removes the scratch pattern of the previous one slightly deeper than that pattern. Skip a step and the next grit has to remove a pattern it was not sized for.

Standard sequence

Step	Grit	Purpose
1	Metal bond 30/40	Cut the surface flat, open the cream
2	Metal bond 60/80	Remove the 30/40 scratches, level aggregate
3	Hybrid or resin 100/120	Transition to resin, remove metal pattern
4	Resin 200	Refine, first sign of clarity
5	Resin 400	Hone, gloss begins
6	Resin 800	Pre-polish
7	Resin 1500-2000	Polish

Rules that hold

• Never skip a step where the scratch size doubles. 200 to 400 is a skip you can defend; 100 to 400 is not.
• Keep the machine moving at a steady speed; dwelling burns a ring that the next step cannot remove.
• Overlap 30-40 percent, and cross the previous direction on the final two passes.
• Do not add water faster than the head can carry slurry; too dry loads the pads, too wet hides the pattern.

When to add a step

Add a step when the floor shows a pattern the current grit cannot erase in four passes, or when aggregate is hard and the cut is slow. A hard, dense floor with flint aggregate often needs an extra 120 or 200 pass. Soft, open floors can sometimes merge 800 and 1500.

Cost of skipping

One missing step typically costs 15-25 percent more total time, because the following grit runs two to three times longer and still leaves a faint pattern. On large floors the labour difference outweighs the diamond saving every time.

Write the sequence, the machine, the speed and the passes into the job sheet before starting. Crews reproduce numbers, not intentions.