Cleaning Shapton Glasstones

[sebell]

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

[ChrisL]

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

[jwoods]

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

[ChrisL]

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

[kevint]

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?

[kaptain_zero]

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

[jwoods]

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

they are vintage blades and i kno the shapton is flat and true, the hone shows dirty the entire path of the stroke sometimes as many as 200 strokes to get a somewhat sharp bevel, recently i used a barber hone after the shapton 2000 and it brought it up to very sharp in 50 strokes so i wasnt that far off, i found that honing with the shapton under a little running water helps a lot, i just have to use my stoneholder or risk clipping a finger, i am probably expecting too sharp a bevel than what it can provide

[Howard]

I have worked with Harrelson Stanley and also carry the Shaptons. I use them regularly to hone straight razors. The recommended practice is to use a spray bottle to wash off the stone and then use the diamond lapping plate (DGLP) for a few strokes. It will get out the steel and also keep the Shapton flat. I learned this from Harrelson and you'll see it in action on the DVD we have coming out next month. It will be on my website.

[kaptain_zero]

Well, I finally got around to trying the artificial Nagura stone for cleaning my glass hones. I should mention that unlike the way one normally thinks of using a Nagura (to raise a slurry on a water stone) the instructions inside the box that my Nagura came in, indicated it's use was for *cleaning* water stones and thus the 12 watt light bulb dimly lit up above my head....

So, the good news is that the Nagura seemed to clean my hones up a treat without removing much if any of the hone surface itself, contrary to using diamond lapping plates that clean the surface by removing it. Now before anyone starts to worry.... Lynn said something along the line of having honed some 1200 razors on his Shaptons so far, using the GDLP for cleaning and there is no appreciable wear on the glass hones... so they are not being worn down that quickly.

Now, the bad news..... So there I was, in my woodworking shop, with nice clean Shapton hones and needing to see how well they worked after the cleaning....<sigh>. Ok, grab a chisel and a plane blade... hmmm, chisel back seems a bit rough even though I'd flattened it before, guess I might as well lap it slightly on the 2K Shapton. Well, crap........... (wait for it!)......... I've never seen a 2k hone remove steel this fast! I mean, I hate standing at the hones for what seems like hours doing such tedious work but now it's a matter of a couple of minutes!!! So the bad news is, I may never take my Shaptons back in the house!

I'm a lazy woodworker and tend to use brute force to shape wood (think heavy machinery and big motors) rather than just wisk it away with a laser sharp chisel or plane, but that might just change now that it really is that much faster to do the necessary honing on the bench hones. I do have a Tormek and it puts a wonderful edge on most of my tools but I've always felt the chisels and planes could use a bit more refinement and the Shaptons make that happen quickly. Howard called them the thoroughbreds of the hone world, I'd humbly suggest they are more like a Ferrari and when used for razors it's very much like using a Ferrari as a shopping cart. In the workshop you can let them loose and they REALLY show you how they can hog off metal all the while making the edges smooth as silk. Whats worse yet is that now I'm starting to think of one of those $500 diamond reference plates.... they have that second side that is meant for speedy prep work on woodworking tools, getting them ready to meet the Shapton family.

Regards

Kaptain "Why couldn't I just settle for sitting on the beach, watching the girls go by?" Zero

[ChrisL]

Whats worse yet is that now I'm starting to think of one of those $500 diamond reference plates.... they have that second side that is meant for speedy prep work on woodworking tools, getting them ready to meet the Shapton family.

Oh no. First he hesitated in jumping in the Shapton pool with us, and now he's turning into our worst runaway monster??

They do make great edges on chisels. Holy stiction, batman, on the chisel backs using the higher grit stones though!! Even skewing those chisels, it takes force to keep them from skipping across or getting stuck on the stones. Thankfully they cut so fast, it only takes a few strokes from one grit to the next.

Chris L