Thread: Fast cutting: Shapton 8k vs. D8EE?

Which one cuts faster? What is your take on the pros and cons of the two?

(I'm thinking about joining the Shapton Club with an 8k and a 16k...)

I have both the D8EE and the Shapton 8k. I'll break from a popularly held consensus regarding the D8EE and say that I don't consider it worthy of being held in the category of the Norton 8k (owned it used it know it) or the Shapton 8k. "Cuts like a 4k and polishes like an 8k" I believe was quoted by someone at B&B. Even if the argument would be relegated to particle size, it's not a level playing field. Shapton puts the 8k moniker on 1.84 particle size while DMT puts 3 micron on their 8k.

On to actual performance. I've shaved off of the Shapton 8k and it gives a perfectly respectable and comfortable shave if a bit of extra time is spent with finishing on that stone. The D8EE IME does NOT give a comfortable shaving edge and the scratch pattern IMO is again not in the same category of a Norton or Shapton 8k.

I'm not saying the D8EE is a stone to steer away from or doesn't have its uses. But I simply don't agree with anyone who thinks it polishes in the same class or fineness of a Norton or Shapton 8k. No way.

Incidentally, I also have DMT's 3 micron diamond paste that I use. The scratch pattern on that stuff is startlingly aggressive. If someone showed me bevels and asked me what grit stone I thought they were honed on and didn't tell me they were honed to 3 mic DMT diamond paste, I would guess the razor was honed at or even slightly below a 4k.

I don't know if that helps at all, but that's my experience.

You could probably guess my answer would be that the D8EE cuts faster. As far as higher grits go, it's a steel hog with all the advantages and in regard to shaving, all the disadvantages such an aggressive abrasive brings.

8k to 16k Shapton is a smooth and quick progression. D8EE to a 16k Shapton would work, but would be quite a bit slower and you may find yourself in a relative sense "repairing" the bevels or at least bringing them up to a polished then finished state on the 16k only by spending more time on it.



Chris L