Thread: Help for new stone purchase..

I'm shopping for a new finishing stone, and mostly realize the variety and differences among them: natural or man made bonded with resin metal or glass, resulting in different slurry, speed, feel and durability. So after the Norton 8000, I am looking at items from Shapton, Naniwa and Suehiro.
Shapton Pro Cream 12,000 $70. Shapton Glass 16,000 $130. Naniwa Super Stone Ebi 20mm 10,000 $85. Naniwa Chosera 10,000 $275 (gulp!) Suehiro Gokuma (w/ base) 10,000 $150.

Well, it's not just the money but it does matter which is why I can live with Norton 8000 instead of going to a Coticule. But it's tough to decide as I could get both the 12k Shapton Pro and the 10k Super Stone for the price of the 10k Suehiro. The Shapton Glass is reasonable but is going from 8 to 16k too much of a jump?

I recall Lynn thanking Sam for an oil stone but can't remember what that brand was. Anyway I won't mind a boat load of advice from the crew here before I go overboard. Stay straight Y'all

Yeap the only problem of the fine synthetics is ......the prise . Otherwise we have no other complains about them

For the question on the grit jump. Going from 8k to 16k is very common and reasonable. Most of the time it's not about grit rating but rather particle size. When you double grit rating all you do is decrease the particle size by half. For example say you stick with one brand for simplicity say shapton. If you go from 1k to 4k, the 4k particle size is only a quarter the size of a 1k particle, and going from 4k to 16k, the 16k is also only a quarter the size of the 4k. As Einstein would say it's all relative.

what I would say on choice. I have a shapton glass 16k and a PHIG. And I really like th 16k but I'm still learning how to get the most out of it. I hardly use the PHIG. And I have a suehiro 20k ordered and waiting to be shipped. But if you get the suehiro 10k, unless I'm mistaken it should have a particle size equal to a shapton 15k.

But one thing to keep in mind grit rating between companies can vary significantly. For example, suehiro 20k has a 0.5 micron size particle and shapton 30k is 0.49 micron. A Norton 8k is at about 3 microns while a Lansky super sapphire 2k is claimed to be also 3 microns. So when looking at stones be sure to know the particle size rather than grit unless you might be going backwards

Hope that helps

Ah, so right!! Apple in eye of beholder and true grit relative pilgrim. I do have an oil PHIG but it has a vein that is counter-productive. Unless wiser men suggest otherwise, I'm inclined to go for the Suehiro 10k, especially if it may perform like a 15k stone. It comes with a base and the dollar is strong! The Shapton 12k or the Naniwa 10k would probably work just as well for me, but..I always (try to) buy the best (or close to it) shoes and wear them for a long time. Thx for your thoughts

Don't forget that you have the option of the Shapton pro 15k that runs around $127. Its Thicker than the Shapton Glass 16k for around the same price. It's cheaper than the Gokumyo 10k, so with them being the same particle size it comes down to finding out if the gokumyo is better and is the extra $30 is worth it. That's if you go in that direction. Happy Honing.

Well r-8 i agree with you and sure i wont be sad having ordered @ $113 online + free shipping.
I was shocked that supplier listed $650 for the Shapton Pro 30k, so the 15k seems very fair.
Also, I saw the Shapton Glass 16k for $130 but they listed the 10k for $172!!
Guess a few weeks before I get back to this, after postage and trying it out. Thx for thoughts.

Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8

So when looking at stones be sure to know the particle size rather than grit unless you might be going backwards

It's more complicated than that. Particle shapes & friability play a part also. eg .5 micron diamond behaves differently to .5 micron CrO.

The behaviour of the stones mentioned in this thread are quite different to each other.
The 12/15k Pro is quite different to the 16k GS. The Pro is a more aggressive cutter & the GS a better polisher.

As for grit jumps it depends again on the stones. The 5k Shap Pro is easily followed by the 12k Pro. The 8k -16k GS is a standard progression.

Altho I exclusively use the Pros atm, I never recommend them for the average hobbyist. There are much easier stones out there to use.

I got a Nani 12k and that worked out fine. A Zulu grey tops it off to smooth it out for me. 8k to 16 is done but seems like a lot to me. I have never been tempted to jump from my 8k to my Zulu for the 1 reason of laps. I do about 150 to 200 in my regular progression on the Zulu just to smooth out the 12k. Can't imagine trying to get that without the 12k in between. Makes me think I should experiment with it when I have that much time to play around :<0)

From personal experienced the Naniwa SS 12k is a really good finisher following the Norton 8k, the Shapton's seems to do better following their own progression. No experienced with the Gokumbo.

No need to look at particles size or microns size, the finest doesn't mean the better edge. If money is tight, chromium oxide on a pasted strop is another option.

I must concur with the other posters above that particle size is not the only factor in the honing equation. Particle hardness and shape and the type of binder means a lot if not more than size when it comes to the edge you are looking for. Thus is the reason honing is more of an art than a science. You can make just about any edge one desires by fiddling around with different stones because of the many different particle properties. Books have been written based on the properties of stones alone thus one thread much less one post can describe what needs to be looked at when stone hunting. Lol