Thread: Does anyone use the Shapton Glasstone 30k

I'm curious to know if anyone has this 30k stone. Is this stone worth $320.00 from Amazon? If anyone uses it please I would like some information. Is it the best finishing stone? Or should I stick with the Naniwa 12k, or perhaps the ILR premium? I'm just looking for the best finishing stone to use! Thanks

In short, no. Very few razors can handle the 30K edge...I am talking about 1%. It's not a real comfortable edge either. I bought one years back, tried it a bit, passed it around a bit to other honers and we all came up with the same conclusion...not very good for razors. You would be money ahead to look at the G20 or a nice Escher. I don't recommend the GS30K & I'm a huge GS fan, that's my only full set of synthetics any more.

Yep I have one
Rarely used except for the few razors that can handle that edge

Would never recommend it or the ILR

The Naniwa SS 12k is hard to beat at any price

ps there is no "BEST" finisher there are only many opinions hehehe

What are the kind of razors that could handle the edge? Just curious..

Originally Posted by Matt1222

What are the kind of razors that could handle the edge? Just curious..

For me it is usually a New York made vintage razors they are some seriously fine grained steel

For me...its Top Secret! If i told you...

I would love to try a G20 edge, have heard its a great synthetic edge.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

For me it is usually a New York made vintage razors they are some seriously fine grained steel

I remember watching your video with the S30k, still makes me howl thinking about it....stroke, stroke, stroke, "Well folks, that's it, that's all you need..." with a grin on your face....that video, and the guy who posted his S30k for sale in a local paper, said he found a better stone, got the grass looking like it had a surface of green glass....guy used the S30k for his lawnmower blades, was a real lawn guy, him and his buddies were obsessed with having an absolutely, perfectly flat cut lawn.

But that amount of cash for a hone that well exceeds most razors, and that it takes longer to open the box than to hone the razor....no thanks.

I have one, and I always use it as the end of my honing progression when I first get a razor.

Do I need the 30K? No, I'm able to get just as good an edge with a lower grit stone and then some serious chromium oxide stropping, like a couple hundred passes. I've even done this as an experiment after ending with a Norton 8K, and it works for me.

From the Shaptonn 15K ceramic and then probably 40 passes on a crox strop, I also get a really nice edge.

But if instead I go to the 30K, it's a lot less work, just a few strokes (I use about 10-15 for each side) and I'm done, maybe just a little plain leather stropping but that's it.

After that first honing I use the crox strop to refresh my edges, they're good for months and I don't go back to the hones unless the shaves start feeling kind of ragged. That happens sooner on some blades, usually Sheffield ones.

I really enjoyed the lawn mower blade story. It begs the question.....Are 30k's real popular for some use other than razors? Micro-tomes, scalpels, tools, cutlery? To make a hone that fine and that expensive I just wonder where the largest demand is.