Thread: 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