How To Shapton Pro #320 Splash-n-Go ... clean it off or just add more water?

A

At1Rest

Joined
Apr 11, 2019
Messages
102
Hi there,
I'm just getting started with a new Shapton Pro 320 grit stone.
Last night when reprofiling the main blade of a Bear MGC midsize stockman I was getting a fairly thick build up of ?!?!? ... what to call it ... mud? slurry? ... and wanted to ask about it.

It seemed like a good idea to spray it clean occasionally so that's what I was doing.
Maybe it would be better to just add some water without totally cleaning it off?

How do you do it?

Thanks!
 
That slurry can scratch the surface your not trying to sharpen, so rinse it off and resume with a clean stone
 
I always remove it also. In addition to the above it seems to slow down cutting considerably if allowed to build up too much.
 
eKretz said:
In addition to the above it seems to slow down cutting considerably if allowed to build up too much.
Click to expand...

Mud can either slow down or speed up grinding; three body abrasion (loose particles) is slower, but the mud also continually refreshes the surface of the stone, and if the stone otherwise tends to glaze or clog this can actually keep it cutting faster.
 
Mr. Wizard - Thanks for the input.
You're probably speaking in general terms and possibly about other stones?

Glazing or clogging, so far, seems impossible with this 320 grit Shapton pro.
I've got an old Windex spray bottle of water and it cleans off really quick.
Just a couple of squirts while angling it one edge down into the bucket on the floor and it's back to looking fresh.
 
A few thoughts (keeping in mind I am ALL ABOUT my nice Shapton Pro bench stones) :
Burrfection found the Shapton Glass 320 to be vastly superior to the Pro stone.

I think for reprofiling I would go much more coarse such as the Shapton Pro 120 (which Ricky is super enthusiastic about . . . as am I).

Yes in any case wash the heck out of them stones when trying to take off significant amounts of metal. I wash mine under the running kitchen faucet while I am sharpening . . . even scrubbing them with the rust erasers, a nagura stone or clean the stone by "flattening" / conditioning on a diamond plate.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
Mud can either slow down or speed up grinding; three body abrasion (loose particles) is slower, but the mud also continually refreshes the surface of the stone, and if the stone otherwise tends to glaze or clog this can actually keep it cutting faster.
Click to expand...

Yes, slurry is composed of grit and binder particles that have come loose from the stone. I actually read the original question as asking about swarf, or steel particles removed from the item being sharpened. Those tend to clog the hone and slow it down. I must have been in a hurry.

It is absolutely correct that loose grit particles - or slurry, or mud if you will - normally speeds up the cutting but also leaves a worse finish and coarser edge. It is rare in my experience that cutting speed actually slows with a slurry, though it does happen under certain circumstances.
 
Wowbagger said:
A few thoughts (keeping in mind I am ALL ABOUT my nice Shapton Pro bench stones) :
Burrfection found the Shapton Glass 320 to be vastly superior to the Pro stone.

I think for reprofiling I would go much more coarse such as the Shapton Pro 120 (which Ricky is super enthusiastic about . . . as am I).

Yes in any case wash the heck out of them stones when trying to take off significant amounts of metal. I wash mine under the running kitchen faucet while I am sharpening . . . even scrubbing them with the rust erasers, a nagura stone or clean the stone by "flattening" / conditioning on a diamond plate.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Wowbanger.
I did see that video before I bought the pro, Ricky is really cool, but I found a good deal on the pro so I went with that.
My first coarse stone purchase was an Edge Pro 220 Grit and I just wanted something close to that and much wider and slightly less coarse so that was an other reason.
I did most of the material removal on that stockman blade I mentioned above with an 8" Nicholson single cut file so that went pretty fast.

I also have a belt sander, old school, horizontal 4" x 36" belts, and I yesterday I did a lot of material removal with that loaded with a 220 grit belt
on a Leatherman Wave+ serrated blade, end goal to make it kind of a lambs foot.
I got it down to where it needed to be and even started the bevels, but got to the point where I was feeling I didn't have enough control so I stopped and now the next step will be the Shapton 320.

The Shapton 320 is probably a long way from needing to be flattened, but I did flatten the Edge Pro 220 a few weeks ago on an 18" ceramic tile with SiC powder and that worked great.
I'll remember the diamond plate if it ever gets dished.
 
Last edited:
eKretz said:
Yes, slurry is composed of grit and binder particles that have come loose from the stone. I actually read the original question as asking about swarf, or steel particles removed from the item being sharpened. Those tend to clog the hone and slow it down. I must have been in a hurry.

It is absolutely correct that loose grit particles - or slurry, or mud if you will - normally speeds up the cutting but also leaves a worse finish and coarser edge. It is rare in my experience that cutting speed actually slows with a slurry, though it does happen under certain circumstances.
Click to expand...

Well, you might be right about it being "swarf" that I was seeing.
I've not enough experience to know exactly what it was.
The steel of that stockman isn't really tough stuff so I don't imagine that it was beating up the stone very much.
Light grey in color when on the stone and darker grey/black when washed off into the bucket.

End result of this thread is "yes, wash it off" so thank you!
 
Wowbagger said:
A few thoughts (keeping in mind I am ALL ABOUT my nice Shapton Pro bench stones) :
Burrfection found the Shapton Glass 320 to be vastly superior to the Pro stone.

I think for reprofiling I would go much more coarse such as the Shapton Pro 120 (which Ricky is super enthusiastic about . . . as am I).

Yes in any case wash the heck out of them stones when trying to take off significant amounts of metal. I wash mine under the running kitchen faucet while I am sharpening . . . even scrubbing them with the rust erasers, a nagura stone or clean the stone by "flattening" / conditioning on a diamond plate.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on the #120.
I got one and I like it a lot.
 
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