Chris,

I was referring to the Pro stones with that comment and it was not my intention to make it sound like the factory was promoting this. However, if you watch the video on the Shapton site, the gent does refer to lapping just before sharpening (again, using the Pro stones). It's been a while since I was scurrying about the net looking for info on the Shaptons but that warping thing stuck in my mind (that came from one of the forums if I recall correctly). I have no personal experience with any of the Shaptons yet. I believe I pointed out in the same post that I thought that perhaps the glass backing was Shaptons way of dealing with the slight warping of the Pro stones..... After all, if you are going to shoot for the sub 0.001" flatness, there's not much room for moisture generated movement. Even micrometers used by machinists are mounted in a holder when high accuracy is required, as the heat from ones hand, heating up the micrometer can be enough to throw the readings off.

That Diamond Glass plate looks sweet... I'm teetering on the edge about to order a whole dang set of hones and the diamond plate but <gulp>, it's hard to justify those $$$, just to save a few bucks on razor blades!

Yes, I've seen those rubber stone holders locally.... the price is a bit sweeter than the Shapton version.

Regards

Christian