Shapton Glass Stones?

[James Jayko]

I bought the Ohishi waterstones at the recommendation of the LN website. While they work great, they need constant flattening and its a PITA.

Any of you who use the Shaptons...do they need to be flattened as frequently? Do they dish as badly? Is it diamond stones or bust if I don't want to constantly flatten? Just looking for your opinions. Thanks!

[Scott Clausen]

Water stones were just too messy for me. I have diamond plates now and touching up a tool or iron is quick work and I am back to what I went to the shop to do in the first place.

[Christopher Charles]

I have shapton ceramics and like them quite a lot. They do need to be flattened but stay much flatter than the nortons I used to have.

Best,
Chris

[James Jayko]

Water stones were just too messy for me. I have diamond plates now and touching up a tool or iron is quick work and I am back to what I went to the shop to do in the first place.

Do you feel you get just as good an edge with the diamond stones? My first setup was one of those double sided Trend 300/1000 plates which I found underwhelming, but then again, I was VERY new and had no idea what I was doing...

[James Jayko]

I have shapton ceramics and like them quite a lot. They do need to be flattened but stay much flatter than the nortons I used to have.

Best,
Chris

I feel like with the waterstones I have, I have to flatten literally every single time I take them out. How often would you guess you're flattening the Shaptons?

[Michael Fross]

I use the shapton ceramics and I flatten every time I'm done sharpening something. But it's easy, just wet and rub the plate over the stones until they look like new. Only takes about 15 seconds depending on how much work was done on it.

If I didn't want to do that, I'd go to diamond stones.

Best of luck,

Michael

[Rob Luter]

I have the Shapton Glass Stones (6K and 16K) and have sharpened with them a couple dozen times. I flattened them once, and really didn't need to.

[chuck van dyck]

I was in your boat not long ago and was really searching for the cleanest option. From scary sharp to dia paste, only thing I haven’t tried is oil stones.

I’ve landed on an 800 and 6000 king for most stuff. Will move on up for really delicate work.

I don’t flatten the 6000 all that often (maybe every 3rd or 4th sharpening) The 6k doesn’t need more than a splash every now and then and the 800 soaks. Nothing a dedicated rag can’t easily get rid of. You might be over doing it on the water stones. If you use a micro-bevel it really only takes a few strokes. Definitely not enough to need flattening everytime, but it really only takes a second if you get a lapping plate. 140grit atoma is affordable.

My point being, it’s really easy to get into this mindset that water stones are messy. Well so are diamond and glass stones! They need to be regularly sprayed with water when in use. Don’t spend more money unless you just really wanna! Those stones are great. That being said, I really really want a 8k dmt. Not till I use up this King. Probably be a few years.

I use an old yoga mat section. Easy to wipe , rinse, or roll up and deal with later.

One more thought. Flip the stone back and forth some so you aren’t just working the same spot all the time.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Jim Hamilton (Aka Stumpy Nubbs) and Paul Sellers are two advocates for diamond stones and the strop. Like you, I had a water stone set up. I liked how they performed, hated how they dished, and didn’t have a good flattening stone, so rather than invest in a diamond stone to flatten the water stones, I just decided to go the diamond stone and strop route. Trend 1000, DMT 1200, strop loaded with polishing compound. With water stones, I was going through 4000 & 8000 grit Norton’s. I don’t do enough production to notice a difference in 1000 and strop vs polishing at 8K. For me, the 1000 and strop so far has been sharp enough. I mainly sharpen old iron Stanley blades and Narex chisels.
.

[Tom Bender]

I like the way water stones sharpen and flattening with the coarse DMT diamond stone is easy enough. But the water stones take 15 minutes to soak and my sharpening setup takes a few minutes. After a sharpening session it takes 10 minutes to flatten and clean up. The water stones need to be left out for a few days to dry. This adds up to a sharpening session for several chisels and planes at once. At least an hour all together, about 3 times / year.

Sometimes I can get by with just a touch up on the fine ceramic stone. All diamond and ceramic is tempting.

[Jason White]

I flatten my Shaptons with a 300-grit diamond stone every time I use them, but it’s only a few quick swipes and way less messy than my old Norton water stones. Way less work.