Hi, Folks:
I have long shaped my guitar nails with knife tools, using 2"x8" Spyderco whetstones in medium, fine, and a discontinued 2"x4" "Medical/Dental" ultra-fine ceramic, and I'm wondering if anyone knows the grit on these, I don't see it posted by Spyderco. Last month, I picked up Shapton slipstones in 16,000 and 32,000, and, en route to Nashville, Tennessee, my new home, I visited Dan's Whetstones in Arkansas. This delightful man owns a 500 acre mining site and employs 15 or 20 workers to make the many, many stones and files that he produces, this was a wonderful visit! I picked up about $200 worth of various tools, the finest being "blue-black" stones, but grit measurement ultimately eludes me. He kindly put an even finer, smoother surface on the black files and whetstones for me, and they FEEL to be smoother now that my Shapton stones. My old Spyderco Medical/Dental stone feels like glass, and it leaves a mirror surface on my nails. The Shapton stones don't, and I expected the 32,000 grit stone to be the finest thing I own.
So, how are these grit ratings done? I still need to come up with a selection of tools for classical guitarists, something I can market, if possible. The 1/2" diameter rod-shaped files are fantastic for reaching the underside of the nails, of course, and the larger whetstones are terrific for initiating an even plane for all the fingernails as a unit, a great beginning, and I can end this process with the ultra fine Arkansas stones that have been buffed to a very smooth surface. But, I must ultimately finish the nails with a mirror polish, which will probably take some tool like the rod-shaped files, but with an even finer surface grit than natural stones seem to provide. I've written Spyderco, in the hopes that I can get info, especially on their discontinued stone. Perhaps they can make me a rod-shaped file in this super-fine grit!?! Can anyone help point the way to the next step, or explain to me how this Shapton stone rates 32,000, when it is not fine enough to put a mirror polish on my nails?
All my best,
Mischa Z
I have long shaped my guitar nails with knife tools, using 2"x8" Spyderco whetstones in medium, fine, and a discontinued 2"x4" "Medical/Dental" ultra-fine ceramic, and I'm wondering if anyone knows the grit on these, I don't see it posted by Spyderco. Last month, I picked up Shapton slipstones in 16,000 and 32,000, and, en route to Nashville, Tennessee, my new home, I visited Dan's Whetstones in Arkansas. This delightful man owns a 500 acre mining site and employs 15 or 20 workers to make the many, many stones and files that he produces, this was a wonderful visit! I picked up about $200 worth of various tools, the finest being "blue-black" stones, but grit measurement ultimately eludes me. He kindly put an even finer, smoother surface on the black files and whetstones for me, and they FEEL to be smoother now that my Shapton stones. My old Spyderco Medical/Dental stone feels like glass, and it leaves a mirror surface on my nails. The Shapton stones don't, and I expected the 32,000 grit stone to be the finest thing I own.
So, how are these grit ratings done? I still need to come up with a selection of tools for classical guitarists, something I can market, if possible. The 1/2" diameter rod-shaped files are fantastic for reaching the underside of the nails, of course, and the larger whetstones are terrific for initiating an even plane for all the fingernails as a unit, a great beginning, and I can end this process with the ultra fine Arkansas stones that have been buffed to a very smooth surface. But, I must ultimately finish the nails with a mirror polish, which will probably take some tool like the rod-shaped files, but with an even finer surface grit than natural stones seem to provide. I've written Spyderco, in the hopes that I can get info, especially on their discontinued stone. Perhaps they can make me a rod-shaped file in this super-fine grit!?! Can anyone help point the way to the next step, or explain to me how this Shapton stone rates 32,000, when it is not fine enough to put a mirror polish on my nails?
All my best,
Mischa Z