A Couple Of Progressions

Gentlemen,

I’ve been testing a couple of progressions trying to optimize my synth to Jnat progression and have some results that might be of interest to some.

My current bevel setter is a Shapton Glass HR 2k, as fast or faster than my Chosera 1k, and finer. Next is a Shapton Glass HC 6k, then a jnat finisher. This progression has been as good as any other progression that I’ve used, and is more economical since there are only two synthetics. Of course I have coarser stones for problem children.

Some supplemental information for those unfamiliar with the Shapton Glass stones:

The High Rockwell (HR) stones were designed to cut the semi-stainless, wear-resistant Lie-Nielsen A2 plane steel, and they cut fast and don’t load up very badly. They release fresh sharp grit easily, but have a narrow grit distribution compared to many other stones including the Shapton Pros. And if you have a SLD, ZDP, etc kitchen knife, a Glass HR will cut it. I have a Yoshikane SLD slicer, and all a Naniwa or Shapton Pro will do is smear the steel, though I have not tried a fine grit Chosera.

The High Carbon (HC) stones were designed for laminated carbon steel knives and razors, but the take away for razor users is that they polish very highly compared to other stones of the same grit. It’s quite easy to go from either a 4k or 6k HC to a decently fast Jnat finisher. They’re slower than the HR but still about like a Super Stone or better, and a nice bonus is that the HC will also cut wear-resistant steel.

The Shapton Glass stones were designed to go in 3x steps, so that makes them a little more economical than their price point would suggest since you need fewer of them.

I’ve also tried the 3k HR and the 8k HC to Jnat, but this series seems to offer nothing that the 2k/6k doesn’t, plus 3k/8k is a little slower. An interesting tidbit is that the HC 8k is really the only 8k that I could use as a finisher - it’s quite good. I haven’t compared it to my Snow White, but it polishes considerably more.

Anyway, hope this helps.

Cheers,

Steve

Checked most everything but the title, lol. That’s ‘Couple’

I was wondering if it was group or couple . Any hoo, fixed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

I was wondering if it was group or couple . Any hoo, fixed.

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Thank you sir!

I have looked at synthetic progressions and used a number of brands over several years. And I also take a bevel and edge to a pretty high finish prior to going to a natural finisher, usually a Jnat or Ark.

To me the brand of stone does not matter for the bevel setter 1-3k. I usually use a King or Nubatama. All I want is a stone that will shape the edge quickly and leave an even shallow-ish stria pattern. I do not like using diamonds to set a bevel but use them for edge repair.

The following stone, once the bevels are shaped and flattened is just to remove all the deep 1k stria, I am not all that concerned about the stria pattern as long as the deep stria is removed. It can be 3-6k. I call it a transition stone, because I transition from grinding/shaping to polishing/refining the bevel and edge.

For the last few years, the next stone has been the Naniwia 8k Snow White. It is aggressive, easily removes 3-6k stria and leaves a near mirror finish, occasionally there are random stria, that I do not worry about. The bevel is smooth enough that I can easily build an Ark or Jnat Kasumi finish on without having to deal with deep bevel setting stria.

I do not have an 8k Shapton, but have a 16-glass stone, it too can leave a near mirror and is aggressive enough to remove 4-6 k stria.

For me, the goal to a pre natural finish stone is removing 4-6k stria and leaving a near mirror finish and straight edge, whatever stone does that.

I have an old King stone, that I think is an S-3, 6k. That stone is very soft, muddy but aggressive and capable of near mirror finish. I have been wanting to make a post about it, as I recall years ago King was making stones on wooden dai that were a blend of synthetic and Jnat. I think this stone may be one of those. It is light brown with dark brown speckles on a King type wood dai and smells of mud and tobacco. I sometimes go to a Jnat from that stone.

I will try to take some pics and make a post next week.

Back to your post, it is much easier to produce a nice Jnat finish and edge from a near mirror bevel.