Thread: What Do You Think About The Shapton 30K

Originally Posted by sharptonn

360.00? I often wonder what a 30k Shapton is actually designed for.

If I'm not badly mistaken it was designed for plane blades and chisels, the Japanese variety primarily IMHO. Go to JapanTool dot com and check out some of their chisels and plane blades. The people who are into that are as serious about their tools as we are about our razors. I am under the impression the 30k is to put the icing on the cake, giving a bevel that is like a mirror polish. We just adapted their hones to our use, same with all of the factory synthetics, norton, naniwa, chosera and shaptons. IMHO.

Originally Posted by RusenBG

It looks like frosted glass . I dont know , if this is realy nessesary and if it is realy working . Are you sure that this is 30 k and what ths stone do to the blsdec. I am very sceptic about it . Hard hones could be very tricky - 1 wrong move and you began again the process .

Oh. it IS frosted glass! The image provided is of the base of the hone which is mounted upon the glass.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

360.00? I often wonder what a 30k Shapton is actually designed for. For knives, it would produce an edge which would degrade quickly.
Seems same would be so for razors. Just like many high grit hones, the reasoning of some (with the money to spend) is that those few strokes it affords will get a razor to the pinnacle. Some razors will not tolerate it, such as old Sheffields.
Purchasing higher and higher grit hones to get a better shave has to stop somewhere. They will not compensate for inadequate edges from 12k and below IMO. Sort of like going out and buying a 700 HP automobile to drive to work and back. How are you going to use it to an advantage over one with 350 HP? Just to know you have it? Perhaps the badge on the fender for all to see? The possibility for overuse easily is great! JMHO

Here's a video which demonstrates how it's used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-rDvSEnTHM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zng0L10a-gU

Originally Posted by Steve56

Just a comment on grit scales - again - the Suehiro G20k is 0.5 microns, the Shapton 30k is 0.49 microns ... I'd go for the Suehiro. The Norton 8k is about 4.5k on the JIS scale Naniwa uses.

But Jimmy and others bring up a point I've discussed with Alex Gilmore before, the smoothest edges seem to come from stones that are not the ultimate in fineness, ie the Thuringian and coticule come to mind, in the JNat lineup, many people prefer the edge off a kiita versus a finer, harder asagi, me included. It's an interesting topic.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by sharptonn

360.00? I often wonder what a 30k Shapton is actually designed for. For knives, it would produce an edge which would degrade quickly.
Seems same would be so for razors. Just like many high grit hones, the reasoning of some (with the money to spend) is that those few strokes it affords will get a razor to the pinnacle. Some razors will not tolerate it, such as old Sheffields.
Purchasing higher and higher grit hones to get a better shave has to stop somewhere. They will not compensate for inadequate edges from 12k and below IMO. Sort of like going out and buying a 700 HP automobile to drive to work and back. How are you going to use it to an advantage over one with 350 HP? Just to know you have it? Perhaps the badge on the fender for all to see? The possibility for overuse easily is great! JMHO

I'm definitely in the Tom and Steve ( and Jimmy) camp of thinking when it comes to edges. Particularly older Sheffield's which I believe perform best (at least to my liking anyway) off a finer Coticule and Escher....12-15K. Whenever I take a blade to a sharper edge off a 'higher grit' stone I always seem to want to cool the edge a bit using my leaded strop anyway for a smoother shave. As far as that goes, I've had simply 'unbeatable shaves' off of some of the better vintage Barber Hones in the 12-15k range...

Originally Posted by Wolfpack34

I'm definitely in the Tom and Steve ( and Jimmy) camp of thinking when it comes to edges. Particularly older Sheffield's which I believe perform best (at least to my liking anyway) off a finer Coticule and Escher....12-15K. Whenever I take a blade to a sharper edge off a 'higher grit' stone I always seem to want to cool the edge a bit using my leaded strop anyway for a smoother shave. As far as that goes, I've had simply 'unbeatable shaves' off of some of the better vintage Barber Hones in the 12-15k range...

This (12-15k) is exactly the grit range for "smoothness" Alex and I were talking about, Thuringians, kiita, coticule w/honing methods to reduce scratch depth (unicot, dilucot...).

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

Just a comment on grit scales - again - the Suehiro G20k is 0.5 microns, the Shapton 30k is 0.49 microns ... I'd go for the Suehiro. The Norton 8k is about 4.5k on the JIS scale Naniwa uses.

But Jimmy and others bring up a point I've discussed with Alex Gilmore before, the smoothest edges seem to come from stones that are not the ultimate in fineness, ie the Thuringian and coticule come to mind, in the JNat lineup, many people prefer the edge off a kiita versus a finer, harder asagi, me included. It's an interesting topic.

Cheers, Steve

Isn't .49 microns and .5 microns essential the same particle size.

Originally Posted by feltspanky

Isn't .49 microns and .5 microns essential the same partial size.

Yes, they don't use the same grit scales but microns are microns no matter what brand. AFAIK, Shapton uses a proprietary scale that's a little different from Naniwa (JIS) and both are a lot different than Norton.

Here's a useful table:

http://www.imcclains.com/productinfo...on%20Chart.pdf

Note the micron scale on the right.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

Yes, they don't use the same grit scales but microns are microns no matter what brand. AFAIK, Shapton uses a proprietary scale that's a little different from Naniwa (JIS) and both are a lot different than Norton.

Here's a useful table:

http://www.imcclains.com/productinfo...on%20Chart.pdf

Note the micron scale on the right.

Cheers, Steve

Thanks for the chart steve: I know the shapton glass stones use ceramic as their cutting medium. Does the 20K Suehiro also use ceramic or a different synthetic material. I visited the Tools From Japan website but it doesn't tell me the cutting strata.

Originally Posted by feltspanky

Thanks for the chart steve: I know the shapton glass stones use ceramic as their cutting medium. Does the 20K Suehiro also use ceramic or a different synthetic material. I visited the Tools From Japan website but it doesn't tell me the cutting strata.

You're welcome. If you mix brands it's a good reference. I think there's a similar table in the SRP Library.

I don't know what Suehiro uses in this line. I'd be interested to know too. But now this darned thread has me wanting to get a G15k to see how it compares to the G20k, which I don't use much! Talk about HAD.

Cheers, Steve

I know the feeling; This thread has me wanting to purchase a 20K Suehiro for comparison purposes. Does the S.R. cutlery addiction every stop ?