Shapton Glasstone questions

B

big no-no

Joined
Nov 7, 2003
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I'm getting the Shapton Glasstones in 500, 2000, and 6000 mesh. I'm wondering if it is worth it to get the 8000. What will the 8000 mesh do for me that the 6000 won't? Also, I know that 500 mesh is coarse, 2000=medium, and 6000=fine. Does anybody know what these mesh numbers correspond to in terms of natural whetstone grit?
 
To answer your first question: No. The finishes left by a 6,000 and an 8,000 Glasstone will be hard to tell apart. Even the 4,000 and 8,000 seem pretty darned close to each other.

The only natural whetstone I have is a quarried waterstone that is similar to the 2,000 Glasstone except it makes a lot of mud which makes sharpening more fun and a bit slower.
 
Natural Arkansas stones (white, black, and translucent) range roughly from about 1,000 to 4,000 Japanese waterstone grit on some charts.

The high grit GlassStones improve the quality of the polish finish and improve the push cut sharpness somewhat if you have the skill to realize the potential. (I'm working at it.)
 
The question is academic: There is no 6000 grit Shapton glass stone. The glass stone system doubles the grit from 500 on with the two exceptions: 220->500 and 16000->30000.
 
I have the 1000/2000/8000 grit glasstones and am very happy with them. The 8000 grit cuts pretty fast and refines the 2000 grit edge very well. I was going to get the 1K/4K/8K combo, but Thom led me the right direction as the 2K finish is a very useful finish, and the 8K glasstone will refine the 2K finish pretty easily. So I guess the question would be whether you want a 4K or 8K finish, and as Thom has said they seem hard to tell apart sometimes. I went for the extra polish, but if you want something that slices slightly better the 4K may work better for you.

Mike
 
It sounds like I did pretty well with the 500/2000/6000 combination. I also got the Diamond Glass flattening stone to keep the glasstones flat. How often are you supposed to use that? I got the impression that you flatten the stones every time you use them.
 
big no-no said:
It sounds like I did pretty well with the 500/2000/6000 combination. I also got the Diamond Glass flattening stone to keep the glasstones flat. How often are you supposed to use that? I got the impression that you flatten the stones every time you use them.
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I use my DMT Coarse Diasharp to keep mine flat, and I do flatten them after every sharpening session. Most of the time the DMT Fine Diasharp would work fine for flattening them also, as long as it wasn't a marathon session. If you bought the really high dollar diamond flattener that Shapton sells you might want to consider buying a DMT diasharp for flattening instead, as they will get the stones flat and be able to sharpen, also, for a lot less money.

Mike
 
Kutlery King said:
What do u guys think of the 16000 an 30000 grit?
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I have 15K and 30K shapton Pro series for the EP.:thumbup: They are magnificent! :D I would be very interested in comparing them to the glass stones, but alas, no one is offering the glass stones cut for the EP.

A pity, really. A side by side comparison would be most interesting, and perhaps quite informative. :(
 
Ben Dover said:
I would be very interested in comparing them to the glass stones, but alas, no one is offering the glass stones cut for the EP.
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There's this guy in California who is to sharpening what the Dos Equis guy is to beer. It would shock me if he wouldn't custom cut Glasstones to fit an EdgePro.
 
Please check Komitadjie's "Sticky: The Grand Unified Grit Chart \" at the top of this section. I have found the it to be very helpful and accuracy to match my experience with these stones. I have always felt that one man's 600 did not always match another. Scan down on page 2 and get the final chart. I printed it and keep a copy in my Edge Pro.:D
 
thombrogan said:
There's this guy in California who is to sharpening what the Dos Equis guy is to beer. It would shock me if he wouldn't custom cut Glasstones to fit an EdgePro.
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I assume you are referring to a Mr. Kenneth Schwartz. I have spoken with him at some length, and apparently he cut up a glasss stone for some friend of his, and then decided that the hardness and brittleness of the glass backing made cutting the stones impractical, and abandoned the project. I'm not sure if he was successful in cutting that one glass stone for his friend or not. I now regret that I neglected to ask him.

Mr. Schwartz has cut all of my Shapton Pro series and Choceras. His work with the Pro series and Choceras is certainly more than satisfactory. I understood from conversing with him that he also custom cuts natural Japanese stones s well.

IIRC, he has a blog on the website of
www.chefknivestogo.com

The site is a bit difficult to navigate, but again, IIRC, it's listed as "Ken's Corner," or "Ken's Blog," or some such.
 
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