Thread: Two Shapton 8000 Glass Options?

As luck would have it, we have a typhoon today, and the wind and noise woke me up at 3am, so I snuck downstairs to get a little sharpening therapy.

I won an ebay razor that was practically shave ready, but since it had some chipping, I decided to bread knife and start sharpening from scratch. I just got my JP 4K and 8K stones in the mail, so I thought I'd give them a try. (I also got my Naniwas, but that is for another thread)

When I was told about the stones, I figured it would be a hybrid - fast cutting like the glass, but with a sturdier binding like the pros. Turns out my assumptions were true. As mentioned, the JP stones are gray, while the regular glass are white.

I used the 1K and 2K glass, then tried the 4K's - a few passes on each to feel the difference, if any. Personally, the white 4K responded more favorably than the JP on the razor. The JP 4K felt very similar to the pro 5K, but with just a little more "give" (Olivia knows what I mean).

The 8Ks were another story, though. I actually found the JP 8K to have more positive feedback tan the white 4K. Again, the 8K JP was similar to the 8K pro, but with a little more give. (The 8K pro is actually softer than the 5K pro, which is a very dense stone.)

As for the purpose of the JP stones, it is quite clear that if one doesn't have a Lie-Neilsen plane, the JP glas stones are a more cost effective alternative (or better, compromise) to the 15mm pro stones.

Pics and product #'s below.

I am so lost here guys.....

I have used the white Shapton Glass Stones from 220 to 30K on about 2,000 old, new, carbon, stainless and damascus razors and they worked fine. At this point I personally like the feel of the Naniwa Supers a little better and have been using them for about 2,000 razors also with great results. I was never a fan of the Shapton Pro's (Personal Preference) and got rid of mine a long time ago.

Lynn

Originally Posted by Lynn

I am so lost here guys.....

I have used the white Shapton Glass Stones from 220 to 30K on about 2,000 old, new, carbon, stainless and damascus razors and they worked fine. At this point I personally like the feel of the Naniwa Supers a little better and have been using them for about 2,000 razors also with great results. I was never a fan of the Shapton Pro's (Personal Preference) and got rid of mine a long time ago.

Lynn

Jimmy very kindly loaned me his entire set of Shapton Pros so that I could try them out. Given that I have never touched a set of Shapton Glass Stones I cannot make a comparison to them, but I will say that so far I really like the way the Pros FEEL during honing because they release a lot of slurry. However, so far I have struggled to get good edges off of them. At least half the time I have had to go back to the hones after the shave test. I'm assuming the problem is my inexperience with these new hones. Lynn, could you elaborate on what it was about the Pros that you didn't like?

I am trying to find out if the glass stone Japanese version is the same as the pro series. Lynn, Harrelson old me the older pro series is "old technology" and the new glass japanese version for 8000 grit different all together generation of material. I think it would be interesting to get to the bottom of it.
Mike

Originally Posted by Utopian

Jimmy very kindly loaned me his entire set of Shapton Pros so that I could try them out. Given that I have never touched a set of Shapton Glass Stones I cannot make a comparison to them, but I will say that so far I really like the way the Pros FEEL during honing because they release a lot of slurry. However, so far I have struggled to get good edges off of them. At least half the time I have had to go back to the hones after the shave test. I'm assuming the problem is my inexperience with these new hones. Lynn, could you elaborate on what it was about the Pros that you didn't like?

My biggest problem with them was consistency. I could only rely on about a 50% hit rate with my usual routines. Took a lot more time experimenting to get an individual razor where I wanted it.

Lynn

Originally Posted by Kingfish

I am trying to find out if the glass stone Japanese version is the same as the pro series. Lynn, Harrelson old me the older pro series is "old technology" and the new glass japanese version for 8000 grit different all together generation of material. I think it would be interesting to get to the bottom of it.
Mike

Please let us know what you find out. I know Harrelson has't honed many razors, but his opinion on the differences in the technology would be very welcome.

Thanks,

Lynn

I distinctly remember both Harrelson and Howard saying that the glass stones are a different formula from the Pro stones. I believe it was both abrasive and binder.

Now you guys quit knocking the Pro stones ..... how am I going to get my money out of them when I go to sell them now that I am in love with the Naniwa Superstones ?

Originally Posted by Utopian

However, so far I have struggled to get good edges off of them. At least half the time I have had to go back to the hones after the shave test. I'm assuming the problem is my inexperience with these new hones. Lynn, could you elaborate on what it was about the Pros that you didn't like?

Originally Posted by Lynn

My biggest problem with them was consistency. I could only rely on about a 50% hit rate with my usual routines. Took a lot more time experimenting to get an individual razor where I wanted it.

Lynn

As you can see, that was exactly my experience with them as well. Because I loved the way honing felt on them, I was hoping I might be able to get better with them but the fact that you had the same results suggests it might not be worth it. Thanks.

HI! I've to read this post severall times due to some "technical" words that i didnt understand..like resolving a puzzle . Sometimes its very hard for me, and i believe for others to keep up and understand what other members are talking. Maybe im going to start doing a "dictionary"..starting with the basics WTG - with the grain..that i taked a while to know what it means..lol!
It was very interesting to read all this posts to see what are the "Pro's" preferences when it comes to pick the stones.
I'm starting to restore 3 razors that i have - the others, with time, i will send it to Max to restore. I was thinking in buying Shapton Glass / Ceramic Stones 1000 (or 2000), 4000, 8000 and 16000. What do you think about this set?

Best regards

Originally Posted by Lynn

I am so lost here guys.....

I have used the white Shapton Glass Stones from 220 to 30K on about 2,000 old, new, carbon, stainless and damascus razors and they worked fine. At this point I personally like the feel of the Naniwa Supers a little better and have been using them for about
Lynn

300 razors and am very impressed with the results !!!!


Yeah I am going to plus 1 with Lynn here

I am going to try and say this nicely OK, but it seems that to many "Other Sharpeners" are deciding what works on razors lately...
This would be like me going on the Woodworkers and Knife forums and telling them my opinions on stones and techniques, it would not hold water there just like their opinion on what works on razors doesn't hold water here....