Shapton 16k at Woodcraft looks like a bargain

[Ed Fasano]

Just FYI... At $75.49, this looks like a bargain to me.

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www.woodcraft.com

 

[jlimey]

Just FYI... At $75.49, this looks like a bargain to me.

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Whether you're a seasoned artisan or a novice enthusiast, shop Woodcraft for expert advice, unbeatable prices, superior brands, and a woodworking experience like no other. Explore our vast selection of premium wood, tools, and accessories, meticulously curated to fuel your passion for creating...

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And I thought their $100 sale price was good

 

[PeteM]

Good price, but do you really need a 16K stone? I think not. Probably why it's half-price.

 

[Roy G]

After sharpening up to 16K you use the tool once and it's not as sharp as it could be. Going this high on the grit is a diminishing returns kind of thing.

Roy G

 

[Echd]

I concur with the others. It is a great price but a very specialized piece- how useful is sharpening a woodworking tool to 16000 grit? I imagine the majority of people seriously using these are knife enthusiasts, bespoke hand sharpeners, and people very serious about their kitchen knives.

That said, I still want one and bought one. For reasons. I just don't know what those reasons are. Rob Cosman is all about sharpening to 16k, while on the other hand Paul Sellers is all in on cheapo diamond plates. I personally feel Sellers is a more unbiased entity where hand tools are concerned, and where Cosman has excellent content as well, I don't want to call him a shill but he is advertising during his videos.

I have shapton ceramic stones in 1000, 3000, 5000, and 8000 already. 90% of the time I just do a touch up to 5k or so. 16k has to be mirror polish range. I don't make knives but I might someday (he says as he justifies his dumb purchases to himself)

 

[Rwe2156]

IMO yes, it can make a difference. I stop at 8000 on chisels. I go to 16K on plane irons when needed. That said, stropping may accomplish the same thing.

WADR to Sellers, I‘ve tried the “sharpening to 1000“ or whatever thing & it’s like he’s from another planet to me. 1250 on my diamond plate no way is enough.

Of course, 30, or better yet, 90 strokes on a strop might be the difference?

Biases don’t have to be based on brands, they can also be techniques. We have to be open to different techniques b/c we may discover a better one!

 

[tvrgeek]

I say yes it is worth it. Some prefer a strop and for a plane or carving tool I agree, but for a bench chisel where you really want to keep that back side flat, I found this to be the best answer. If doing a micro bevel, you can go from 1200 right to the 16,000, but if doing the full face ( I do on 1/2 inch and smaller) then I use my 3000 diamond first. I don't bother on tools I would smack, like my mortice chisels. 3000 or even 1200 diamond, but for hand paring, I am all in on the 16,000. Not much difference in time touching up on the Shapton vs a strop.

A third option is the traditional soft water stones. I think 8000 is the most common finishing stone. One of these days I should compare them all to my old Ark. black. It is soooo slow though.

I was suprised how much better my tools worked when I switched to using the 16,000. It is not just the mirror look, it is actually in cutting. Even if I touch up more often, paring soft wood end grain makes a difference. How often of course depends on your steel.

 

[Ed Fasano]

Good price, but do you really need a 16K stone? I think not. Probably why it's half-price.

I sure appreciate mine. Rob Cosman swears by them. He vaults from 1,000 16.000.

 

[tvrgeek]

Of course, the very best sharpening system is the one that works for you. If the edge is sharp, you are doing it correctlly.
Ones I tried that did not work:
Makita wet wheel
Tormak clone
Work Sharp
Buffing wheel
M-Power
Scary Sharp
Any gig before I got the Veritas MK II ( for primary bevels) and by hand for finishing

Yet all of these methods have their happy campers. Before we had diamonds and manufactured stones, musium quality furnature came off little more than a brick and old file.

 

[Scott H]

I have not used the 16k Shapton but just a thought when comparing grits across products.

16k Shapton is supposedly ~1 micrometer grit size. That is not far off from the JIS standard (used for Japanese whetstones and abrasives) for #8000 which is supposed to average 1.2 micrometer or so. I do not know if it is true or not but the chart below also places it just a little finer than Coticule which is a natural stone that was used as far back as the Roman army. I have seen different quotes as to coticule's fineness, though. Either way I would say the 16k would be a reasonable strop alternative that would probably round the edge less from the leather deforming.

I always like to look at the Grand Unified Logarithmic Grit Chart to make comparisons like this, one of those "that's the nice thing about standards, there are so many to choose from" things...

Grit Chart

A logarithmic scale has the property of equidistant spacing for any geometric progression, meaning that a ideal stone series will be uniformly spaced.

www.gritomatic.com

 

[tvrgeek]

Super chart!

Hey, you stole my catch line!

Corect, it does not round the edge as much as a leather strop, but I also strop on MDF and it is much firmer.

 

[Wilsoncb]

I always like to look at the Grand Unified Logarithmic Grit Chart to make comparisons like this, one of those "that's the nice thing about standards, there are so many to choose from" things...

Grit Chart

A logarithmic scale has the property of equidistant spacing for any geometric progression, meaning that a ideal stone series will be uniformly spaced.

www.gritomatic.com

That’s a serious grit chart!

 

[Mike Davis]

Before we had diamonds and manufactured stones, musium quality furnature came off little more than a brick and old file.

Natural stones were used all the way back to…well, the Stone Age.

Sharp is sharp, I don’t care how you get there.

my Worksharp works because I worked on it till I am happy with it. Diamond discs to fit cost $15.

my diamond plates work because I learned how to clean and lubricate them.

I used scary sharp before it had a name and that’s all I had.

A hard wool buffing wheel is magic.

the bottom of a teacup will sharpen a razor.

pick one and get to know it like there is nothing else until you master it and then decide if you need something else.

 

[Rwe2156]

Speaking of whatever works, a long time ago in another life, one day at the cowpens I saw a cowboy stroking his pocket knife on the top edge of his truck door window - in preparation for steering the bull calves. Looked to me like it was sharp as a scalpel. At least the bull calves seemed to take it well.

I don’t know if it really works, but for many years I did it whenever there were people around, just to get some comments.

But yeah, I grew up learning to strop my knife on the side of my boot. And THAT really does work!

 

[Echd]

I received mine today. I just played with it a little (do you really "play" with a whetstone?). I was surprised how quickly it removed material- the magic of modern material science, I suppose.

I just sharpened a chisel I use frequently and it went right back to making thin shavings with light pressure. It could do that before, but it is shinier now too.

I am looking forward to doing some testing as to the usefulness of the stone over what I already had. I scored a dx60 block plane with a pmv11 blade from the factory seconds sale at lee valley today too so that will certainly rate a quality sharpening job...

I do wish it came with a case (other than the cardboard shipping box). All of my other stones from Shapton have nice plastic boxes for storage.

 

[Trey1984]

Natural stones were used all the way back to…well, the Stone Age.

Sharp is sharp, I don’t care how you get there.

my Worksharp works because I worked on it till I am happy with it. Diamond discs to fit cost $15.

my diamond plates work because I learned how to clean and lubricate them.

I used scary sharp before it had a name and that’s all I had.

A hard wool buffing wheel is magic.

the bottom of a teacup will sharpen a razor.

pick one and get to know it like there is nothing else until you master it and then decide if you need something else.

The diamond disc your talking about... Does it stick to the plate glass or is it a actual diamond disc that you put in place of the glass plate? And you do like them? Thought about getting some but haven't seen to much about them.

 

[Mike Davis]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BB13YO6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Spray adhere to the glass plate.
They work much better than the sandpaper that came with it.