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

SRD put a Shapton 16K glass stone in the SRP classifieds. It has a chip on one side so they couldn't sell it out of the store. Went for $50 shipped so I thought I would see what all the fuss was about on the cheap.

I have the Shapton Pro series and have been very happy with the 15K. I had been told by Harrelson and by Howard that the glass stones were a different formula but I didn't think it made that much of a difference.

So my glass stone came in. I had been working on a Heljestrand mostly with a natural coticule and got a fair shave out of it. Next day I took it to the 16k and did 30 laps and it was better but needed more so the following day I did another 30 laps on the 16k. Now it was scary sharp and for my tender skin harsh.

I went back to the coticule with water only and did 30 laps. Seems that I am stuck on 30 laps. 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.

So I had gotten my Robert Williams dream razor last week and have been working on it for the past days when time permitted. I plan on doing a review on it so I won't detail the honing here but suffice to say that this morning after a lot of laps on the 16K I stropped and got a great first shave with it. Not too harsh either.

So my conclusion taking into consideration that I have only honed two razors with it is that the Shapton 16K glass is better then the Shapton 15K professional. I still think the 15k pro is a great stone but the glass stone out preformed mine so far.

Edit; When I say I have reservations it is because I have only honed two razors with the stone.

someone here on the forum stated that his stainless wacker didnt like the shapton g/s in 16k i think it was lt. arclight i prefer hones of a 2 inch width or a little less, the shaptons are fantastic hones though if you want to clean them off as you hone i found that to be the breaking point for me, love my couticle i bought from rob and my unmarked barber hone given to me by my barber. 20 laps on croox 25 linen 50 latigo and 50 horsehide and in shaving well, i dont mean to badmouth the shapton g/s hones the 16k probably wont require cleaning like my 2k and 6k g/s

Originally Posted by jwoods

someone here on the forum stated that his stainless wacker didnt like the shapton g/s in 16k i think it was lt. arclight i prefer hones of a 2 inch width or a little less, the shaptons are fantastic hones though if you want to clean them off as you hone i found that to be the breaking point for me, love my couticle i bought from rob and my unmarked barber hone given to me by my barber. 20 laps on croox 25 linen 50 latigo and 50 horsehide and in shaving well, i dont mean to badmouth the shapton g/s hones the 16k probably wont require cleaning like my 2k and 6k g/s

The Shapton glass stones are cutters to be sure. Did you find that the stones were loading for you? I do find after long honing sessions of multiple razors that I need to refresh the GS, but that doesn't bother me. I'm just wondering if you were saying that in your experience the GS and swarf give you bad results? More labor intensive?

Chris L

One thing I noticed on my 16k was that I got the dark swarf fairly quickly. On my Shapton pro 12k and 15k I don't get it that quickly. Also the pro in those grits are a cream color and a slurry begins to appear on both before too long. When I went to the 16 I was using weight of the blade with maybe + a wee bit. If I was honing as Harrelson does on the video he and Howard made I would have to refresh the stone often whether it was the glass or the pro.

I agree, swarf on the bright white stones is produced very quickly. But I don't find that the swarf becomes an issue where I feel the stone is loaded unless I'm honing for quite awhile.

Chris L

I hone at the kitchen sink so every now and then with whatever I am using I give it a rinse and spin it around to spread the wear. I haven't honed enough with the 16 to really "know" the stone but it definitely impressed me.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

So my conclusion taking into consideration that I have only honed two razors with it is that the Shapton 16K glass is better then the Shapton 15K professional. I still think the 15k pro is a great stone but the glass stone out preformed mine so far.

Lynn came to the same opinion about the 15K vs the 16K after honing a pile of razors. I'd say that you are in good company with your conclusion.

I went back to the coticule with water only and did 30 laps. Seems that I am stuck on 30 laps. 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.

and yet the idea of a pyramid is so elusive . . .

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

and yet the idea of a pyramid is so elusive . . .

I don't quite know if I get your point. I was talking to a very experienced honer and I told him I intended to use the 4/8 pyramid since I have gotten such good results with it.

He said that I would find that if I just stayed on the 4 until I got to where I wanted to be I could go to the 8 and I would find in the end I would have the same results. Maybe so but I am a believer in if it is working why fix it.

On the Harrelson video he says that the Shapton series is designed with the grit being doubled in the progression so 4 to 8 to 16 is ideal. He doesn't use the pyramid but rather progressive honing using the same method as he uses for plane blades adapted to razors........ but that is another topic.

One difference about the Sweet 16 you have to watch is that it is a great finisher, but probably has more cutting power than any other stone in that grit range... I am very, very, careful about not going over 20 laps with that stone, if the blade isn't sharp/smooth enough at that level with 20 laps you might want to look at a lower grit and figure out what you missed... Also the Shapton's seem to like their own company better than other stones, in other words their progression works well together better than mixing the stones before using them...
As to an issue with super hard chippy razor's ie: Wacker's I haven't noticed that on the Shapton stones any more than any other synthetic stones, Wacker's seem to like naturals better, so you just have to be extra careful well taking them out for a ride...

These are just of course some of my own personal observations.....