Thread: Cleaning Shapton Glasstones

I've noticed that the Shapton Glasstones have a significantly higher tendency to load up
with steel than naturals such as Belgian Blues, Coticules, and Japanese finishing stones.

Since they also cut so fast, I can notice small amounts of steel (in an x-pattern mostly)
after only a few razors. I'm hesitant to break out the lapping plate after only several
razors since these are fairly hard ceramic stones. I've had some success with cleaning
the stones using the following method (as directed by Spyderco for their hones):

- On a wet stone, deposit a fairly generous amount of abrasive powder such as Comet
- Using a plastic scouring pad, rub the stone in a circular fashion until visibly clean
- Repeat if necessary

Keeping the stones surface free of deposits in this manner should prolong periods
between lapping, but then again, many have said that these stones wear much slower
than Nortons so more frequent lapping may be feasible.

Does anyone else perform anything similar on their stones (Shapton or not)?

Regards,

- Scott

The instructions I have with my Shaptons say don't use soap or detergent for cleaning.

You're right, they cut so fast, it's swarf city very quickly. The higher grit stones (6, 8, 16K) clean pretty well with just a cloth rubbed on the stones under running water followed with a very generous rinsing to ensure to lint stays behind. That's what I've found.

Now the lower grits.....I refresh them quite often. They're a bit more porous and after not much honing are gray with swarf. I've found though that drawing a pencil grid and refreshing only until the grid is gone, the coarser stones are not as clean as new. They can still have a dull color. I don't think this is a problem because I think the dull that's seen is swarf that's in the recesses of the stone's surface rather than the surface. I figure what doesn't come out after a thorough rinsing probably won't be flushed out with a bit of water during honing to potentially work against the honing process.

Chris L

i have the 2000 grit i bought to set bevels, takes way too long as well as getting dirty fast, i use a 600 grit diamond plate under running water to clean it, i cant seem to set a bevel with this stone for crap, i dont know why shapton doesnt want you to use detergents on these hones maybe it will break the bond between glass andceramic im guessing over time

Originally Posted by jwoods

i cant seem to set a bevel with this stone for crap,

Bummer. What kind of razors are you trying to set bevels on using the 2K? vintage restos needing quite a bit of work? How many passes have you done on a razor trying to set the bevel on the 2K?

Chris L

I usually just wipe them off under running water with my fingers. It also helps to find ways to use the whole surface. As well spray it clean if it "blacks out" while honing, which of course sounds like a lot of swarf for a razor...just sayin'
--
I don't have a 2000 but one would imagine it'd set a bevel fairly easily. Do you have enough water?

I keep meaning to drag out my fake Nagura stone to see if it will clean up the surface of my Shaptons. It should... after all it's only loosely bound fine grit and rubbing the slurry on the surface of a Shapton hone should clean it promptly.... but ACK, as it's not a $300 GDLP so it will probably ruin any chance of accuracy in sharpening!

2k is about the finest hone you could use for "sharpening", anything finer than that is polishing. If you need to remove a fair amount of steel, rather than just tweaking a slightly dull razor you'll probably want to drop back down to 1k or even 500 and work your way back up. You can't equate hones made of different materials just based on the grit rating.... diamonds are very aggressive when new and widely spaced but will slow significantly as they wear in. Shaptons with their tight packed ceramic particles will tend to load up sooner and may cut finer than a comparable diamond hone if you are comparing grit for grit but they ARE aggressive hones that will cut very quickly.

Regards

Christain

I have to say I disagree with your distinction between sharpening and polishing Kaptain zero. the 8000 shapton is cutting steel and thinning the edge. I have few finer stones and feel the same can be said for them.

or it could be that polishing is hard for me to define

We generally refer to the higher grits (1k and up) as polishing grits because the actual edge width doesn't get significantly finer after that.

I've recently been thinking that this kind of notion can be taken as far down the scale as 300 or 400 grit. I can get an edge to cut hair at those grits and if the edge is thin enough to grab hair, it can't possibly get that much thinner, so everything from there on up is polishing the edge into a smooth, even, bevel that can be used for a comfortable shave.

The higher grit stones are definitely removing metal, but the term sharpening looses it's meaning once the edge meets at that single line, from then on you are honing, or polishing, out the irregularities.

Correction: the Verhoeven sharpening experiments document shows an improvement from about 3 microns edge width at 200 grit (from one high ridge to another, not accounting for the valleys that are closer together) to 1 um EW at 1000 grit, to 0.5 um EW at 8000 grit, to 0.35-0.4 um EW after stropping with CrO pasted leather strop. So an increase in sharpness of at most 3 microns can be expected after the initial bevel is set. To me, an improvement of 0.003 mm isn't sharpening, per se, but then this is just a difference in terminology.

Perhaps I am bring apples to a discussion of oranges but I have the Shapton Pro series. I like the 1 & 2K very much. I am not so fond of the 5 and 8K. The 12, 15, and 30 are really good for polishing an already sharp edge. If I had it to do over again I would not have gotten the 12 as the 15 is close enough.

My stones don't load up too quickly. The 1 & 2k do load up more quickly then the finer grits but that is to be expected as I am using a bit of pressure setting a bevel or honing out micro chips. On the higher grits I am using almost no pressure. Lapping with the GDLP is easy. No problems with the plate yet (knock on wood) I rinse the stone when I am through with it and if I think it needs it I give it a going over with a nylon bristle brush under running water. No soap. Not saying soap is bad just that I haven't found it necessary.

Not to argue the point as I am a relative newbie at the fine art of honing razors to scary sharp but one of my main honing mentors says that setting bevels on a 1 or 2k is the way to go and sharpening ends on a 4k. Anything above that is polishing to improve an already sharp edge. That is if I understand him correctly.

I tried to account for a difference in terminology. To me polishing refers to an aesthetic value. True, polishing metal removes material as well but the intent is different. polishing is to create clarity/ sharpening is an attempt to create nothing. - the zero edge

Of course we are talking micrometers, however, imho a reduction of 1/2 and greater is substantial no matter the subject.

I guess you could say I'm splitting hairs, but isn't that the point.