Shapton Glass Stones

[David Beeler]

I was looking at the Shapton Glass sharpening stones. Has anyone used these and would you have a comparison to the traditional water stones?

David

[mike holden]

Dave,
Had a chance to use these during a sharpening class with Chris Schwarz.
They are a premium stone, but even Chris admits that if you already have waterstones, it is not worth trading up to. However, if you do not have waterstones already, then they are worth it.

Primary advantage is that they seem to resist wear ( and cupping) better. There is a theoretical advantage in that the grit is more consistent, but that does not seem to be a practical advantage.

I say "seem" as I have not seen any tests, just anecdotal testimony.

Using them did not seem any different than my own waterstones.
Mike

[Charlie Mastro]

While I don't have the glass stones I've been using Shapton's for over a year and would not go back to regular water stones again. They stay flat longer and cut faster than waterstones I have used. I still haven't replaced my #8000 King as it has a lot of life left and doesn't wear as quickly anyway.

[Rolf Safferthal]

Dave,

since October I own one of the professional Shapton Stones - a 120!

This stone replaces a 300 King, which developed problems with some steel starting to polish. This is not what you really want with a stone of this type. The Shapton works much better, grinds fast and uniform. And it doesn´t wear fast! It´s still level.

I use the Shapton 120 together with two Cerax Stones to grind my irons. The Cerax stones are 1000 and 8000 stones and I like the combination.

Riolf

[Pam Niedermayer]

I haven't used the glass Shaptons, but have used the professional series (1000, 5000, 8000) off and on, mostly off, for about five years. I've moved to mostly natural waterstones because the Shaptons created too much stiction to be useable. Of course, I could rake grooves into them to decrease that stiction, but that seems too much of a travesty given their price. The lapping plate is good, I use it for all my waterstones.

Pam

[Randall Houghton]

Hi Dave
I've Shapton glass stones for about the last year and one half. During the last 35 years I've used about everything they make to sharpen with including King and Norton waterstones. I find the glass stones stay flat longer and wear better than the traditional waterstones. I keep mine flat with a Shapton lapping plate. The initial cost of this system can be higher than others but the stone life is longer and the grit is more consistent than with other systems I've tried. I frequently use hand tools in my projects and sharpen quite frequently when doing so. I use A2 and O1 steels and get excellent results on both. Hope this help answer your questions.
Regards
Randy

[Eddie Darby]

Randy - Any problems with stiction with the GlassStones?
Pam mentioned this as a problem with the Shapton Professional Series.
I have a Shapton 15,000x Professional stone and I am very happy with it.

[Randall Houghton]

Eddie
I have not had that problem with my glass stones. Overall I think they've performed better than any thing I've used.
Regards
Randy

[gary Zimmel]

Eddie

I also have the Shapton Glass Stones and am very happy with them. They cut quickly and are easy to maintain (keep flat) with the lapping plate.

[Don C Peterson]

It's my understanding that there is no difference between the Shapton Professional and Glass stones as far as what they are made of. The difference is that Shapton is able to laminate a thinner piece of waterstone to a glass back, giving the rigidity needed to prevent the much thinner stone from cracking when in use.

I have the 120 and 8000 Shapton Pro stones and rarely use them. I found that a DMT diamond plate grinds much faster and never needs flattening so the 120 hasn't seen the light of day for over two years now. About 6 months ago I all but stopped using the 8000 because I acquired a hard black Arkansas stone and I discovered that combining that with a Nagura stone slurry puts a fine mirror finish on an edge and again, never needs flattening (at least probably not in my lifetime).

There's somethig about having to flatten a waterstone all the time that really bugs me... Anyway, I'm very pleased with the results I'm getting from various grits of DMT diamond plates finsihed off with the finest Arkansas stone.

[Eddie Darby]

It's my understanding that there is no difference between the Shapton Professional and Glass stones as far as what they are made of. The difference is that Shapton is able to laminate a thinner piece of waterstone to a glass back, giving the rigidity needed to prevent the much thinner stone from cracking when in use.

There's somethig about having to flatten a waterstone all the time that really bugs me... Anyway, I'm very pleased with the results I'm getting from various grits of DMT diamond plates finsihed off with the finest Arkansas stone.

If the glass stone series was the same material, and it could possibly be so, then how is it that the Professional series seems to be plagued by stiction problems, and the Glass Stone series isn't? Perhaps the particles are the same but the binder has changed?

The Glass Stones are advertised as being more friendly with A2 blades.

I've seen a demo of the Shapton system, and the person would rub the diamond flattening plate over the stones for about 10 seconds or so, and then go to sharpening. This quick flattening was done once the total stone surface had been used to sharpen tools. The person used the stone in 1/3rd sections, with tight circular motion, so then I guess that you could say that the stone got a flattening every third tool sharpened, but every tool had a fresh untouched surface each time it was sharpened.

This easy dishing of waterstones is what makes them desirable, because you are getting fresh particles to the surface, rather than getting a glazed surface that doesn't cut.

[Don C Peterson]

If the glass stone series was the same material, and it could possibly be so, then how is it that the Professional series seems to be plagued by stiction problems, and the Glass Stone series isn't? Perhaps the particles are the same but the binder has changed?

The Glass Stones are advertised as being more friendly with A2 blades.

I've seen a demo of the Shapton system, and the person would rub the diamond flattening plate over the stones for about 10 seconds or so, and then go to sharpening. This quick flattening was done once the total stone surface had been used to sharpen tools. The person used the stone in 1/3rd sections, with tight circular motion, so then I guess that you could say that the stone got a flattening every third tool sharpened, but every tool had a fresh untouched surface each time it was sharpened.

This easy dishing of waterstones is what makes them desirable, because you are getting fresh particles to the surface, rather than getting a glazed surface that doesn't cut.

You might be right on that one... Shapton's site claims that the Glass Stones use a "New" ceramic formulation. ...of course that could just be marketing speak.

[Charlie Mastro]

Maybe I'm just lucky but I've never had a stiction problem with my Shapton's. I always keep plenty of water on the stones and don't rub hard as per the directions on Harrelson's DVD. I noticed he did not let the worn off iron build up and kept adding water. I've used water stones for over 25 years and the Shapton's are the best I've ever used. I still use my King 8000 because there's still plenty left but I've worn out two King 6000 and one 1000 over the years. I just make sure I flatten the stones on my DMT before I use them.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Speaking of ceramics, I recently saw an Iranian movie called The Suitors. A group of men wanted to kill a sheep in a NYC apartment (for kabobs, long story). They used the back side of a plate to hone their knife.

Pam

[Hank Knight]

Speaking of ceramics, I recently saw an Iranian movie called The Suitors. A group of men wanted to kill a sheep in a NYC apartment (for kabobs, long story). They used the back side of a plate to hone their knife.

Pam

Thanks for the heads up. I believe I'll avoid this movie, even with the interesting sharpening technique. :eek:

[Pam Niedermayer]

Hank, I don't care whether you watch the movie, it certainly wasn't the best I've ever seen; but the technique made so much sense once I thought about it a bit.

Pam