Thread: Grit progressions

Hi,
In fixing to purchase a set of shapton pros at 5k,8k and 12k. I already have a 1k king stone. I was wandering if going from a 1k to a 5k is to big of a jump in grit progression??
Thanks,
Mike

I've used the Shapton kuromako 1.5k to 5k as a progression and found that it did the trick. Basing your postulated progression as given on the King 1k seems like it is based on a weak underlying support in my opionion. I would instead suggest 1.5k > 5k Shapton kuromako followed by one or two finer naturals as to the finish.

Not to discount the King 1k entirely; it's just that it's another type of synth stone. What other stones are you using in addition to the King 1k? If you like it, then you may want to stay with the "traditional" resin-bonded synth stones like King 4k, 8k, or the Naniwas. The Shapton kuromakos act differently.

Originally Posted by Southbound

Hi,
In fixing to purchase a set of shapton pros at 5k,8k and 12k. I already have a 1k king stone. I was wandering if going from a 1k to a 5k is to big of a jump in grit progression??
Thanks,
Mike

I think it would all depend on how well you set the bevel with the 1K. If you don't get the bevel set, the other stones grits won't matter.

I go from 1k to 4k with zero problems, I wouldn't foresee any problems going 1k - 5k

You should be fine, might take you a few extra minutes but is easily done. Only reason to bridge that gap would be if you hone a lot of very hard steel to save time. Otherwise I would not bother.

1k to 5k is fine, might want to check after 5k to make sure you get most of the 1k scratches