Thread: Shapton Pro 12000

Has another owner of one of these hones found little white dots of something scattered throughout the surface? I don't have anything that can see if it is having an effect on the edge of my razor or not, but maybe somebody else has noticed this, too? My razor seems to shave fine when I finish it on this hone, but I don't have much else to compare it to, though.

Yes my Shapton 12000 has the little white dots and so does my 15K. Matter of fact if they weren't ink stamped on the reverse side you couldn't tell them apart. The 12K was the first finishing stone I bought. Up until then I had been using a Swaty. I have always gotten good results from the 12. BTW, in the FAQ the Shapton USA website says," The 12000 is designed for stainless and will load with the soft iron in a Japanese chisel".

I find mine gets streaks of gray if I use too much pressure. So, the white things are supposed to be there? Are they just part of the stone/mix/media?

Yes the white dots are part of the mix. Nothing to worry about. You don't want to apply too much pressure once you get past setting your bevel on a low grit hone. You will see some gray swarf on the 12K as you hone one way or the other but it should be no more pressure then it takes to keep the blade flat.

I agree about the pressure. You said something about it being good for stainless. Is the glass line better for carbon steel?

I don't know if the glass line is better. All of my Shaptons are the pro series and I am very happy with them. That deal about the 12K loading up with Japanese chisels has not been a problem for me honing carbon steel razors. I imagine that they put a lot more pressure on the hone in honing chisels. The light touch used in honing razors doesn't cause the stone to load up. Not for me anyhow. When I seem to be getting enough swarf I just rinse the stone off and keep going if necessary.