Thread: Shapton 16K glass, I'm a believer ... with reservations

I guess I will add my experience with the 16K. I notice I clean my stone [with a scotch bright pad] after 3 or 4 razors as it seems to cut better when I do. I don't lap [Just a few swirls] until session is over. As was said even being a polisher it cuts very fast. When in final polish mode I use the 16K then the 30K and always use CrO after the 30K. I have shaved directly off of the 30K and still felt a little ragged. I really like what the CrO does to the ultra sharp 30K blade. I do about 30 passes with the CrO.

bj

I don't know about you guys but I have to clean (or turn it around depending on the stroke I'm using) about every 10 or 15 laps. The black stays on the stone and very little gets suspended in the water. It's almost like dragging a graphite rod across the stone. If not the first stroke you start seeing it in the first few. By 10 or so laps you can feel it. I use just a very light pressure biased towards the edge. Run it under the tap and most of it comes off with a couple of light swipes of my fingers and the rest with a few light scrubs with a scotchbright pad.

I have used the glass 16K on over a thousand razors and most times over a dozen at a sitting. I rarely use more than 10 strokes and only clean or lap the stone when I'm done so it's ready for the next time.

It has been a very consistent stone and I also go to either the diamond spray on felt or cromium oxide before the leather.

Lynn

I dont have a 16 or 30k. It seems rather odd to find that edge harsh or raggedy... I would think perhaps microchips or wire edge.

Have you looked? everytime I feel like the edge is harsh, there is something besides a smooth even looking edge.
Just asking

Originally Posted by kevint

I dont have a 16 or 30k. It seems rather odd to find that edge harsh or raggedy... I would think perhaps microchips or wire edge.

Have you looked? everytime I feel like the edge is harsh, there is something besides a smooth even looking edge.
Just asking

Yes Kevin I have. I think I have sensitive skin. I can't shave more then two passes without irritation no matter what I use (DE or straight) and with a DE the first shave was usually a bit harsh feeling (with a Feather). I always use magnification 30X before during and after honing. I don't leave chips if they are there to start with and rarely cause them with my honing. Thanks for asking though.

I love my Shapton stones, and going all the way up to the 16k
leaves me with an edge that I can either take straight to the
linen, or to any of my natural finishers for a different feeling
finish.

- Scott

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Just as Bart posted and Randy told me going back to the previous grit level smoothed it out without sacrificing keenness and now it was perfect for me.

Please let the record show, that I don't think about finishing on a Cotciule with water as "going back". Randy has a ton of experience on a wide variety of hones, so I'm sure he meant something useful when he made his statement about going back to the previous grit. Maybe my experiences with the Coticule fall within Randy's observations, maybe not.
It might very well be possible that mixing a "toothier" pattern with a more polished pattern, can yield the best combination of the avidness of the former to sever hair, with the smoothness of the latter to glide over the skin without scraping it. I can see how that could be one of the advantages of doing pyramids. But I have not looked into that so far and can't make any valid statements about it.

Thanks for comparing the Shapton 15K with the 16K glass, Jimmy. You sure made me wish I had the chance of trying a 16K.
Luckily I have no HAD (only a slight CAD), so I don't have to crave for one.
Now would you please excuse me, I have to go stare at my Chosera 10K a bit...



Bart.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Yes Kevin I have. I think I have sensitive skin. I can't shave more then two passes without irritation no matter what I use (DE or straight) and with a DE the first shave was usually a bit harsh feeling (with a Feather). I always use magnification 30X before during and after honing. I don't leave chips if they are there to start with and rarely cause them with my honing. Thanks for asking though.

I don't think my skin is sensitive too much. I am unclear on what it means really, and often seems to be different interprertaions of :harsh I have been meaning to get a loupe. I guess I worry that if it isnt B and L or something, it wouldn't satisfy. With my radio shack microscope, some of what you see, you don't know what it is. lighting , light reflecting, so i try to correlate what i see with what i feel.

I don't have 30x so I don't know if anything is lost or gained in the view. I can get a smooth feeling shave with 8k and leather; or a miserable prickly one- especially with no strop at all.
I can't get a clean shave, i think because it takes too much pressure = too much skin movement. It isnt harsh it's just too dull.

what you describe sounds, could be symptomatic of a wire edge. It would be interesting to know if 4 strokes might make the difference to smooth shaving....

Makes me glad I went with the glass over the pro series. I don't have much to compare to but I've been loving it.

Originally Posted by kevint

what you describe sounds, could be symptomatic of a wire edge. It would be interesting to know if 4 strokes might make the difference to smooth shaving....

What I describe in terms of irritation beyond two passes occurs whether I shave with a DE with a Gillette Swede, Feather, Derby, IP, Merkur, Wilkinson..... straights honed by me, Lynn, The Topher, Tim Zowada, Mastro Livi, Joe Chandler. I don't see a wire edge with the 30x and I think it just may be my skin.