Is the 16K Shapton hone worth the money over the 15K from the Pro line??

Just wondering what you all think. Birthday coming up & will get gift cards & wanting to get a finish hone in the $100.00 to $150.00 range.

Slawman

I love the 16K, heck...I have been a Shapton GS guy for a long time as they are my preferred stone. Tell me, what finishers do you have right now over 8K?

Do you like what I call a semi-crisp to a crisp blade? Shaving directly off a GS16k is just that, a very sharp feeling blade (not scratchy in any way)...and it will be as long as you have done your part on the lower "grit" stones. If you prefer a smoother feeling blade, I would have to recommend a quality thuringian or a Naniwa 12K.

A Shapton GS16k is quite a fast stone, with the white ceramic type material used you will really see the material being removed as you make passes on the stone. What I really like about the stones, if you have done your part on bevel set up to the time for a finisher, is the feedback the stone gives you. You will feel when it's polished the blade via what some of us call "stiction". 2-3 super light strokes after you feel it and your razor is ready for leather.

One last good quality about the GS16k is that it is a fabulous touch up stone, you will no longer use your barber stones once you get the hang of it.

At the moment I am finishing on my Coti under running water. I have a 10K Wei Wei Chinese that I don't like very well. It is well under 10K to me. I also have a John Primble Barber hone that I touch up on & have finished on with good results. The John Primble was one of the highest rank barber hones on the shoot out at the "other" place. I just want to take it up a notch & I may start a little honing business.

Dave H.

I finish on a 16k.

As Scott says, they are aggressive stones. Not many laps are needed and you should keep the pressure to an absolute minimum.

I am very happy with the final edge.

I agree 100% with Scott Goodman.
Since I've been using the Shapton glass stone progression I hardly touch anything else.
I use a 1k Naniwa Chosera for the bevel set then the 4k, 8k, and 16k Sharpton glass stones.
They leave nothing short of a fantastic mirror polished edge, and do it quite fast.
The 16k is pretty much all that I use for touch ups now.
My Naniwa progression, my natural bbw and coti progression and even my Escher are pretty lonely campers right now.

Pete <:-}

I don't know what lower grit hone you're coming from, but if it is 10-12k, I'd save up, throw in another $50 or so and get the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k.

Cheers, Steve

Very few people would have both the 15K Pro and the 16K GS. Most opt for the GS as that seems to be a rock solid system and the glass makes it very unlikely that you will break a hone when it gets thinner, something the Pro stones cannot say. As for the difference in grit, I don't think it would matter in the slightest. Go with whatever you like.... Unless you are honing for dollars (in which case a hone is expendable and your business is paying for it), either hone should last you your lifetime with ease.

I switched to Naniwa SS hones when I sold my Shapton GS set... and I found the 12k SS to be quite similar to my old 16K in performance, but the Naniwa SS hones are softer, and to me, nicer. That said, I was awfully happy that Danny, who purchased my GS set, lent me the old 16K hone for an indeterminate time, so now I have both. I have to admit, once in a while, I'll use the GS over the SS, mostly for feel I suppose. The GS hones are hard in comparison to the SS hones.

While the GS is a great finisher, I still go back to one of my Jnats or my Coti, just because while I like crisp edges, I don't mind a bit of softness.... And then there is this one razor... it just will not get as sharp as I like on my Jnat.... but 20 laps on the 16K Shapton snaps it to attention. 5 or 6 laps on hard woven wool with crox to remove any wire edging, then 10 super light laps on my Jnat and that razor shaves as good as any of the others.

I've been tempted to try a GOK 20K, but I'm pretty darn happy with what I have.... Now, as for you, as I said above, I think either hone is fine. If you can save some serious coin by going Pro, do that. If you have dreams of the Shapton GS holder... it's sweet, I use it for ALL my hones and I was happy to see that the Naniwa SS hones fit perfectly. The Naniwa Prof. hones are a tad short. I have no idea if the Shapton Pro hones would fit that holder, so if you are planning on getting one some day..... maybe check that out first.

I wouldn't buy the Shapton Glass diamond plate... it's just way too much money... I used to use DMT plates which were plenty good enough, but then I purchased a pair of Atoma plates and I prefer them.

So pick whichever you like.... you'll be happy with either.

Regards

Christian

I've never tried the 16k gs, but if a Naniwa 12k is smooth and crisp compared to it, I would consider it unusable lol. I don't use my 12k anymore, or any synthetic stone past 1k for that matter. Get a jnat. Save yourself from always wondering is there more? What's better? Maybe I should try this? There is nothing on this planet that compares to a jnat. You can find excellent specimens in your price range.

Slawman, I'm recently new to straight razors and honing. Not wanting to have a razor I couldn't maintain myself I looked around ALOT and liked the Shapton GS system. Once I upgraded my Gold Dollar to a Dovo I was given what I consider solid guidance, which is once you have your Dovo professional bevel set and honed to 30,000 grit than all you'll need is a 16,000 grit stone to keep it sharp. After a week of shaving it might require 5 laps on the 16k to keep it shave ready. I took the advise and bought the 16 k. Then my inner-self took over and decided I should have what I need to set bevels and hone to shave ready in the event I find a nice razor somewhere. I bought the 1k, 4k, 8, and 16k Shapton GS ceramic glass stones for my intended purpose. I like the look of the Shapton holder but I decided to save a little money and went with an amazon universal holder, which works well for me by the way. I also, like another member mentioned, decided to go with a DMT plate for flattening over the Shapton DGLP. If money isn't an issue I would have bought the entire Shapton system including the DGLP and top end holder and the 30k stone, but that hasn't happened yet. Yesterday I knocked the rust off three old razors, polished them up nicely and then set the bevel and honed all three to shave ready (16k). Today I shaved with one of them and was very happy with my first attempts and honing my own.
The stones do cut quick. The DMT 325 continuous plate works as a lapping plate but stiction can be tough, not impossible, so keep that in mind and use lots of running water. I'm happy with the direction I chose to go but now I need more razors to practice honing on.

I have the SG 16K and it does a fine job of finishing but can 'over-hone' very quickly. Great hones but a black arkansas and/or translucent arkansas does just as well IMHO for a lot less money.