Thread: nortons, shaptons, and diamond paste grits

I know there are different ways of calculating "grit size", so that one manufacturers 8k may be quite different from another's. How do the norton 4k and 8k hones compare to the 15k shapton hone and to the 1 and 0.5 micron diamond pastes on a paddle?

I don't know about the pastes, but afik the grit sizes b/w Nortons and Shaptons are comparable. In any case it's a sure bet that the Shapton will be finer and a great finishing hone. I'm saving up to buy one as we speak.

oh, I think the Japanese and USA grits are way off... This has been discussed earlier, try searching the forums...

Nenad

Btw. I have been mulling over that cutting down the middle idea and I like it more and more lol.

Yea I think there's like a 20 or 30% difference between the U.S and japan grit sizes but I don't remember which way.

Originally Posted by mparker762

I know there are different ways of calculating "grit size", so that one manufacturers 8k may be quite different from another's. How do the norton 4k and 8k hones compare to the 15k shapton hone and to the 1 and 0.5 micron diamond pastes on a paddle?

The US and Japan use different systems.

The traditional measure, and the US system, is to define a grit by the maximum partical size. This comes from the days when they used to use screens. The Japanese use average size. I believe that the Japanese grit is equivalent to half its size in sandpaper. So, a 4K would be like 2K sandpaper. The diamond pastes work on yet another system.

The 4K, 8K and 15K hones are all directly compatible. For pastes 3 micron is equivalent about an 8K Japanese stone, 1 micron is about 13K, .5 is about 50k and .25 about 100K. The files section has documents that show these.