Glenn - I completely understand your skepticism, I felt the same way at first, but after working on this for quite a while and trying comparisons of things like US to European sand paper and Norton to Japanese stones, I am forced to believe it....

BUT, don't take my word for it...compare what your glass stone says or better yet, their web site
(Ceramic On Tempered Glass : ShaptonŽ Stones, ShaptonŽ Sharpening Systems)

to what Norton says about their stones on their site

(http://www.nortonstones.com/Media/Do...nesCatalog.pdf)


Here's the kicker, and it gets me every time....I know that the scratch pattern from my Norton 4000 grit water stone (6 micron) is bigger than the scratch pattern from a friend's 4000 grit King water stone (3 micron), because I was able to see a sizable difference with a microscope...

...BUT...

....What these manufacturers don't say anything about, which could potentially make a HUGE difference (and does), is what the particles are made of and what shape they are.....

....I have seen some of the members on here saying that they would rather use 1 micron CrOx than 0.25 micron diamond paste because supposedly the diamond paste is so much more harsh, and as far as that goes, I saw a thread from ChrisL that said he got a reasonably comfortable shave from what was supposedly 50 micron CrOx, so what the actual sharpening media is made of DOES make a difference, since even ChrisL mentioned that he wouldn't try this with 500 grit sand paper....

Please let us know what you think of your Shapton Glass 4K shave compared to your Norton 8K shave....

...my guess is that the Norton will be smoother....Why, has to do with "Why Shaptons?"......the answer as far as I have ever heard is because Shaptons are more aggressive and work much faster.....but this might have the side effect of giving you a rougher shave also.

You might also try shaving from the Shapton Glass 8K and the Norton 8K and see if you think there is a significant difference in the feel of the two shaves....