Thread: Shapton 16k, mixed grit??

Oz, I have a friend in France who uses Shapton stones to hone reed knives to make reeds for musical instruments. I could tell that he’s experienced with Shapton so I asked him which ones that he had. His reply? ‘I have everything that Shapton makes.’

There was a fellow on one of the knife forums that finished off his lawn mower blades with a Shapton 30k, now that’s fanatical!

A lot of folks say that they use the Shapton HR 16k just fine, and there’s a clue in Shapton’s response to SharpMan:

‘Furthermore, when using GS16000, you will be able to get better result by 1) short stroke and 2) loose hand-pressure.’

Both of the techniques mentioned are what good razor honers have mastered. Iwasaki mentions the short stroke and of course using the correct pressure is fundamental to getting good results.

So let me recast Shapton’s statement quoted above: ‘If you are a good razor honer, the Shapton 16k will probably produce good results for you.’ This is consistent with what experienced members report in this thread.

I feel for Shapton when they reply to these questions. They don’t know who they are talking to. They could be talking to the best straight razor honer in the world or someone who has never honed a razor before.

Also interesting is that the G7 series is not the same stones as the HR, per Sharpening Supplies and Shapton’s reply to me (via Mark at CKTG) that I did not need the 0.44u G7 (~34k) for razors since I had the 0.85u G7 (~17k).

They are a unique stone manufacturer.