SMF

Do you have a 6 inch buffing wheel ?, it will remove steel much faster than a dremel, there are many different abrasive wheels and smaller 4 inch ones that also take a block of compound, saves a lot of work and leaves a superb shine.

Personally, a 8k is not ever going to give me a comfortable shave, my progression is 1k, 3k, 8k, 10k, 12k and 15k followed by either a thuri or ark ( mostly thuri ) then dia spray on felt, crox on felt and then shell strop, never fails me.