Thread: Shapton Glass stones vs.Traditional or "Pro": What's the right choice?

You can spend the money if you want, but lapping with sandpaper worked for me on the GS's & as far as I know, they are about the hardest system available. I've used sandpaper to lap my Charnley Forrest as well...it doesn't get much harder than some of the naturals. I just use my DMT for slurry or blade repair any more.

If I could find 8" or larger DMT's for $10-20 I might change my ways...but I have never found large, new diamond stones for that price & if you use a diamond stone for lapping, it should be at least as large as your stone as far as length. Sandpaper is cheap and I've always got some on hand...

I have never honed on Shapton Glass, and I've only used the pro's once (I was impressed when I did).

I asked the same question of a vendor, here's the response I got:

after testing them (Shapton Pro) against the GlassStone line I decided to carry the GlassStones. The Pro line is Shapton's older technology and is being phased out according to Shapton. Have you tried the GlassStones's? They're awesome

That's interesting. How long ago did the vendor give you that info?

Just to echo what has been said already - give the plate a miss. I bought one - biggest waste of money I have made in a long time.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks for the input. I'll look into one of those DMT lapping plates. Got some mixed reviews on the wet/dry sandpaper.

Just to demonstrate once again that there are many differing opinions on all things shaving related...

I have the Shapton lapping plate and absolutely love it. Lapping with other plates like the DMT you will find that striction becomes an issue. The plate will seem to stick to the hone and this will make it hard to lap. The Shapton lapping plate has gaps between the raised diamond parts and so it never sticks to the hone. I'll admit the damn thing is way too expensive but in spite of that I have never regretted the purchase. Once I tried one I knew I would never go back. Good luck with your decision!

Originally Posted by whitebar

Just to demonstrate once again that there are many differing opinions on all things shaving related...

I have the Shapton lapping plate and absolutely love it. Lapping with other plates like the DMT you will find that striction becomes an issue. The plate will seem to stick to the hone and this will make it hard to lap. The Shapton lapping plate has gaps between the raised diamond parts and so it never sticks to the hone. I'll admit the damn thing is way too expensive but in spite of that I have never regretted the purchase. Once I tried one I knew I would never go back. Good luck with your decision!

That' great input! With me it has never been about the money. That being said, I don't ever like to throw it away on over priced, over hyped products. I'll do a little more research on all the Shapton products including the Sharpening Pool and stone holders. Sharpening Pool might be overkill. (As I mentioned earlier, this will be exclusively for my Str8's) Do you, or anyone else have a good source for Shapton Stones? Also, if you have grit recommendations for me that would be great. FYI- I don't have any vintage razors or any that need to be re-ground so I don't know if I need to invest in the lower grit models right out of the gate. Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Rojo

Thanks. That's helpful. It seemed like from what I have read the Shaptons are so hard they could only be lapped with their lapping plate.

Nothing harder than diamonds! As others have said, go w/ a DMT plate--in the long run, it'll be much cheaper than buying wet-dry paper all the time. You also won't have the problem of errant grit particles contaminating your hones.

They usually run around $40. I've had my 325 for almost 3 years & it works great. Would have cost me much more than that in sandpaper in that time!

Originally Posted by Rojo

I'm getting info overload trying to research this myself! Can anyone make a recommendation on the Shapton Glass Stone vs. the Traditional? I will be using these stones only for my Str8's so I don't care about cross functionality. Also, the Lapping stone seems really expensive. I'll make the plunge if some more "experienced"

One additional follow-up: Lynn Abrams talks about the 4k/8k Norton as his workhorse stone. I don't see the 4k Shapton's Pro Models too often. Would it make sense to get 4 stones (1k/5k/8k/15k) if in fact the pro or traditional is the way to go.

Thanks

When I reach the overload stage I usually back off and simplify things for myself. I start with the basics and after that, if I want to take things a step further, I address it later.

This article was very helpful for me. I found it before I found any shaving discussion group: Straight Razor Shaving: Is it For You?. It was presented in a way that seemed interesting and "doable."

After reading the comments from accomplished straight shavers, I didn't find anything that really contradicted what I read in the aforementioned article. So I'm sticking with the traditional, because if it's good enough for these people it's certainly going to deliver results that will impress me if I become skilled.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Whatever you do, don't use rubber cement on the sandpaper as the water creates plenty of "stiction"

Agreed, agreed, agreed!

I have a set of the Shapton Pro hones and really like them. I don't care if they are old technology, they are very effective on straight razors. I have only used the Shapton Glass 1k and I found that the Shapton Pro1K was slightly more effective.

Regarding the DMT hones for lapping...get either the 220 or 325 grit. Anything finer is not recommended by the MFG and a number of us have had the unfortunate experience to back that up.