Shapton Ceramic Stones

[titanxt]

I tried to search the forum for any previous posts about "Shapton Ceramic Stones" and nothing came up?? So here is a question or two...

Are the Shapton ceramic stones worth the cost? How to the compare (better or worse) than traditional water stones? Do they require less maintenance in keeping them flat and clean?

THank you!

Andy

[AHill]

Yes. They are worth their cost and they require less maintenance than "traditional" water stones, if there's such a definition. A more fair comparison would be to cite a specific brand of waterstone, since there's a huge difference in performance and upkeep even among the "traditional" stones (Norton, King, Bester, Imanishi, natural, etc.). Were it me, I'd get Sigma Power waterstones. They work faster than Shaptons and they don't experience as much "sticktion" as Shaptons. After using Shaptons for probably 5 or 6 years, I've switched over to Sigma Power stones. I have a mix of A2, Japanese white steel, PM-V11, and O1 steels I sharpen. Sigmas are available from Lee Valley and also from Tools From Japan.

I'm surprised you didn't get any hits on Shaptons using the search function. There are dozens of threads on sharpening that describe and compare Shaptons, Sigma, King, Norton, DMT, scary sharp, stopping, oil stones, and whatever else you can imagine. Drop the term "ceramic" and just search for Shapton and you'll find a lot more information.

[Timberwolf]

Yes.  They are worth their cost and they require less maintenance than "traditional" water stones, if there's such a definition.  A more fair comparison would be to cite a specific brand of waterstone, since there's a huge difference in performance and upkeep even among the "traditional" stones (Norton, King, Bester, Imanishi, natural, etc.).  Were it me, I'd get Sigma Power waterstones.  They work faster than Shaptons and they don't experience as much "sticktion" as Shaptons.  After using Shaptons for probably 5 or 6 years, I've switched over to Sigma Power stones.  I have a mix of A2, Japanese white steel, PM-V11, and O1 steels I sharpen.  Sigmas are available from Lee Valley and also from Tools From Japan.

I'm surprised you didn't get any hits on Shaptons using the search function.  There are dozens of threads on sharpening that describe and compare Shaptons, Sigma, King, Norton, DMT, scary sharp, stopping, oil stones, and whatever else you can imagine.  Drop the term "ceramic" and just search for Shapton and you'll find a lot more information.

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"Sharpology"...More than you need to know about hones and honing,,,,


https://sharpologist.com/2016/06/ultimat...art-1.html

[hbmcc]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Sharpology"...More than you need to know about hones and honing,,,,


https://sharpologist.com/2016/06/ultimat...art-1.html

Thanks for the link. It's a fun read. One needs to decipher the grit chart, as no column headings are present.

[Timberwolf]

Thanks for the link. It's a fun read. One needs to decipher the grit chart, as no column headings are present.

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One needs to decipher the grit chart, as no column headings are present.

I noticed that also.......I guess it "slipped his mind"....
..But it is a good read....I can testify that natural stones vary greatly...I have been collecting stones for many years and have lots of natural ones..Arkansas in particular are hard, if not impossible to predict how well they will cut...until they are used...Some that look exactly alike can be worlds apart in how well they work..I have a couple that are my "go to" Arkies..

Ebay is a good source for many different types of natural and "UNnatural" stones.....
..I noticed that Belgian Coticules have increased greatly in price...Some have gone over the moon!!!!!

[cputnam]

What Allan said. Added drivel to make post long enough. Unable to get quote function working and suspect the same issue as with mouse back button

[DaveParkis]

I have the Shapton Pro's and the Sigmas. The Sigmas do cut a bit faster, but require soaking at the lower grits. The Shaptons are "spray and go" and will do a good job. I don't notice much difference in how often they need flattening. The Shaptons will be a little less expensive and are much easier to travel with. If you don't plan on taking the stones out of the shop, you might want to look at the Sigmas. HTH

[titanxt]

Dave,

What grits of the Sigma's need soaking?

[wmickley]

I tried to search the forum for any previous posts about "Shapton Ceramic Stones" and nothing came up?? So here is a question or two...

Are the Shapton ceramic stones worth the cost? How to the compare (better or worse) than traditional water stones? Do they require less maintenance in keeping them flat and clean?

THank you!

Andy

There was a lot of discussion about Shapton 8-10 years ago. Since this forum has little archive, you would get better results searching another forum. 

There is a fallacy that one can judge the fineness of an edge by the number on the box for the sharpening stone, as in "I sharpened my chisel to 10,000 grit". If a certain stone could cut faster at a given grit than another it was deemed more desirable. As a result, companies like Shapton made ever more harsh stones so they could win this battle of speed at a grit. The trouble is that harsh stones make deep scratches that are difficult to remove with the next stone and leave a ragged edge.

When other companies made stones that were even faster, Shapton sort of lost out, and probably there are guys with $400 in stones sitting in drawers unused.

In 2009, I attended A Woodworking in America at Valley Forge. I took some wood along and was able to sample the quality of some of the planes, many of which were sharpened on Shaptons. For one planemaker in particular, I went to his stand first thing in the morning so I could get a good sample. He later wrote in his blog that he had sharpened all his planes in his hotel room the night before, using a 15000 Shapton. The surface from the plane was good, (the best of the lot), but not as good as what I was getting with an old Stanley sharpened with an Arkansas stone. I think the harshness of the stone was an issue.

[DaveParkis]

Andy, the 1000 and 6000 need to be soaked. The 13000 is splash and go. They are excellent stones. I got mine from Stu about 5 years ago and the price has actually come down because of how the yen stacks up against the dollar. Last time I checked, Stu was offering a pretty nice package deal. That said, the Shaptons are good too.