Thread: Cutting Shapton Ceramic on Glass...Results

AHA!!!

I hereby amend my comments made on another thread. The substrate for the Shapton Glass Hones is tempered glass which does not tolerate being messed with. While the glass is trashed, the abrasive layer of the hone illustrated is apparently not remarkably compromised: it will continue to abrade things brought into contact with it; however, it will be a flexible honing medium and neither rigid nor predictable in its actions.

Chris, you gonna bring the tub saw to the Minnesota Challenge? I've got a coticule natural combo 10" x 2 1/2" that should work so much better as a scythe stone, or two.

I figured you'd ammend your statement in the previous post after seeing the results, Bruce. I'll bond it to something solid like a piece of marble tile of the same dimensions and lock that ceramic down. I'm sure it will be fine.

Chris L

I can see it now... NEW FOR 2009 - "CRACKED GLASS SHAPTONS" ... and what's worse I'll hafta get me a set

Originally Posted by Bruce

however, it will be a flexible honing medium and neither rigid nor predictable in its actions.

This doesn't have to be true. Keep in mind that the abrasive in the Shapton glassstones is a ceramic, and flexibility is not commonly considered a property of ceramics. Brittleness, however, is a property of ceramics. If you had a ceramic stone worn down to a thickness of one millimeter, it would be very easy to break, given a length of eight inches. The glass substrate adds strength to the thinner layer of ceramic.

This is the same reason why they use re-bar in concrete; concrete has excellent strenght under compression, but cracks easily when flexed.

Would a coticule be flexible if it didn't have slate glued to the bottom? No; it would be easier to break.

The shapton stones will not be flexibe, and they will remain predictable. They will also be easier to break. They require a strong substrate.

That's why I suggested granite tile from Lowes; they will cut it for you for free, and it's FLAT. I had a granite tile cut into several pieces - some 3x10 slabs and four 1x6 pieces. When I brought them home, I checked their flatness on my granite reference plate (which is flat to +/- 1.05 microns per foot), and they were right on the money.

Glue your cut shapton to a granite substrate, lap it for flatness, and enjoy for a long time.