Thread: Canadian Source for Shapton Hones?

Well, for what it's worth (coming from me as I don't have most of this stuff yet) Chris Moss over on SMF has been using a range of Shaptons up to the vaunted 30k and still ends up finishing on a Chromium Oxide pasted bench hone (Hand American stuff), though lately he appears to be having some improved success with using a Spyderco UF lapped on the Shapton DGLP instead of the 30K/Chrome combo.

My personal view is that whenever possible, hones should be used rather than leather strops pasted with whatever. Hones are ridged and can be made perfectly flat on a lapping plate and they do not deform when being used. Leather hones are neither flat nor do they resist deformation as well as ridged hones in use so they will have a tendency to round over the edge, however slight it may be. Comparing CrO to diamond is apples to oranges. Diamond dust is very sharp and hard, CrO are most likely more rounded in shape and polishes better than diamond and that seems to bear out in mulitude of reports where diamond pasted strops give a harsher edge than CrO pasted ones.

The largest benefit to the Shapton Ceramic in Resin binder hones is that they are very fast cutting, are very consistent in grit size, can be flattened perfectly with their own DLGP or cast iron reference plates. When used for razors, they can, due to their fast cutting nature, make life easier when a razor needs to revisit the hones. Dr. Moss noted that most of his razors now respond to a set number of laps on each grit size and the job is done. Contrast that to using Nortons/naturals etc. where one razor may hone up much quicker than the next and there is no easy way to tell how much each razor will need.

Does this mean the Shaptons are perfect.... nope! While the Shaptons and other hones/strops finally tamed Chris's Maestro Livi razor, it was not without much trial and error. Shaptons deal with modern steels better than the older style hones, but all of them will work. It's more a matter of how much are you willing to pay for convenience. So far, I'm doing just fine with my Norton 4K/8K, Belgian blue, yellow coticule and a CrO pasted strop with a couple of barbers hones and a Spyderco UF thrown in for good measure... I'd like to try the Shapton Glass hones but at this point, with my current stable of older razors, I suspect I won't gain all that much and the Shaptons are awfully pricey!

I keep telling myself that I'd like to be able to put a Feather edge on a traditional straight but if that were really true, why do I keep shaving with my dull as a riding saddle straights instead of my Feather AC, which is sitting there on the counter..... ignored?!?!

Well, there you have it... my random and quite possibly meaningless thoughts.... however well thought out they might be.

Regards

Kaptain " I think I need another drink" Zero

I'm REALLY liking my Shapton 16K ceramic on glass stone (I even made it my avatar for now!). Very nice and I have not experienced any stiction issues (I do draw my razors at a 45 degree angle when honing which probably helps this).

I don't want to rekindle the flatness debate, but I can't help but think that the honing efficiency with Shapton stones has some to do with with being lapped with the GDLP .5 micron flat lapping plate vs. most Nortons that are either lapped with DMTs or other methods. The flatter each stone is in progressing from one stone to the next, the more effective and quicker the honing process is.

Given that I have a bad bad case of HAD, I'm publicly admitting to the group that I have in a very short time added the Shapton GDLP, and the Shapton ceramic on glass stones in the 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000 & 16,000 grits. Unfortunately my work and family life has not left me much time yet to really run these stones through the paces. I use the 16K more than any of the others at this point, but will certainly be experimenting with all the stones as much as a possibly can. For me, that leaves the 6000 and the 30,000............

I'm planning on eventually making a very nice wood stone holder to keep the whole set protected and handy.

Chris L

Hey Chris,
That's quite an enviable collection of hones sir. I have been eyeballing them for a while, but haven't been able to justify jumping in head first yet.

I think it'd be an interesting experiment to lap a Norton 4k/8k (so that you don't wear down your shaptons unnecessarily) with a DMT and note how many strokes it takes before the 4k scratches are removed from a razor, then lap it with the Shapton plate and repeat with the same razor.

I have a sickness for experimenting. It takes up a lot of my free time.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

Hey Chris,
That's quite an enviable collection of hones sir. I have been eyeballing them for a while, but haven't been able to justify jumping in head first yet.

I think it'd be an interesting experiment to lap a Norton 4k/8k (so that you don't wear down your shaptons unnecessarily) with a DMT and note how many strokes it takes before the 4k scratches are removed from a razor, then lap it with the Shapton plate and repeat with the same razor.

I have a sickness for experimenting. It takes up a lot of my free time.

I think that's a great idea for an experiment Russel! I sold my DMT D8C and D8E in part to justify purchasing the Shaptons, and I'm actually wishing I hadn't sold the D8C. For example, I bought an Aloxite Carborundum Co. Barber hone today and Don't really want to take it to my Shapton GDLP for lapping (The GDLP you see is my baby. I want to keep it for my naturals and my ceramic on glass stones only at least at this point). Oops, come to think of it, I sold my Norton for the same reason (justification of the Shapton purchases) so now I'm both Nortonless and DMTless (I didn't think either was an inferior product to be clear).

Chris L