Shapton whetstones stones different qualities?

[dspeer]

Hi,

I am looking at doing my honing using shapton whetstones. 
I've tried to educate myself which ones to get, and there seem to be big differences in quality: the 'M' and the 'Pro' series. Pricing seems to be quite different. 

Can somebody point me to a source for explanation about those?

Thank you!

Dietrich

[Steve Friedman]

Before buying water stones, you should spend some time on Stu Tierney's Tools from Japan site and his blog.  

TFJ
Blog

Then contact Stu directly and ask lots of questions.  He used to post on the forums, but I haven't seen anything from him in a while.

Just make sure you change the currency from Yen to dollars before you play on his website.

I only have one Shapton stone stone, so I can't comment, but have read lots of comments from folks about some of the Shapton grits being much better than others. Don't recall the details.  But there are lots of water stone options out there that have arrived since Shaptons were the ultimate.

I would also suggest checking out the no-soak ones that Lie-Nielsen is now selling.  I have the 1000 and 10000 and they work fine.  My only gripe is that the 10000 grit stone is sticky.  And the finish I get off the 13000 Sigma stone that I got from Stu is much better than what I can get from the 10000 from Lie-Nielsen.  I have been told that a little soaking helps, but I got them because they were touted as spray and go stones.

Have fun and ask LOTS of questions.

[dspeer]

Wow that sounds like awesome advice!

Thank you!

[BrianM27]

Amazon has Ha No Kuromaku Ceramic Whetstones. They look exactly like the ones TFJ has. Price is similar. If you look close at the picture they say SHAPTON on the side. My research shows that the Shapton Co. claims that they are made slightly different so they can survive the climate in the US as opposed to Japan. They claim that the non-Pro series ones are prone to crack in the US. However, this seems to be a bit overstated. Most of the Amazon comments claim no cracking issues. I think they are primarily the same stone that is marketed differently for outside Japan. They average about $30 less. For me its worth the risk.
Having said all of that does anyone have experience with DMT? You can also get these at a reasonable price on Amazon and they seem less fussy. Don't need soaking and they stay very flat. People are even using them for lapping and flattening stones.

[RodB]

Paul Sellers points out that Diamond stones are the least expensive method and last a very long time.  I use King and Lee Valley water stones but tend to use my Coarse duo sharp diamond stone for cutting initial bevels. The following video is by one of the supreme experts on the planet for those who want functional and reasonable time and cost for the average guy woodworker. 

How to sharpen an hand plane
https://youtu.be/vvTcReENk9g

Maintenance mode sharpening session
https://youtu.be/gE4yVgdVW7s

Restoring a hand plane... a long but thorough video on how to restore and sharpen etc a plane to use. Lots of good info. 
https://youtu.be/RYyV6IUpsYk