First Impressions – Shapton Glass Stone 500 (video review)

Magnaminous_G

Magnaminous_G

Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
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I finally got around to using my new Shapton Glass Stone 500 for the first time today. I heard about how aggressive Shapton Glass Stones are, but I was still surprised at how fast this stone cuts. You can see in the middle of the video I get confused because the edge won’t cut newsprint the way I want it to after inspecting my edge (10:05). I was using too much pressure, putting too much stress on the el cheapo steel with the aggressive, coarse stone, causing small imperfections/chips that were catching on the paper… that’s my current theory, anyway. A light touch and cleanup with the HH washboard fixed it.

This stone would likely be appropriate as a one-stone solution for stainless steels up to Wustoff/Henckels-style X50 German cutlery, and it can definitely be used for reprofiling on a softer steel. Initial impressions = two thumbs up :thumbup::thumbup:. Finished on the HH Washboard with Bark River black compound/28 lb. copy paper, leaving a toothy, aggressive edge that cleanly cuts soft (rotten) tomatoes :o. I think I may have finally found the solution to one of my biggest sharpening dilemmas to date: if I am going to attempt to put a decent edge on a POS knife, what stone/grit progression to use?


Available in HD!! [still uploading/processing, available ~90 minutes after this post]
[youtube]obrOHTd1xXg[/youtube]
 
That Shapton looks awesome. What would it take to make it dish?

Glad the WB is getting it done as a solution, I know you've been looking for a consistent routine on those softer metals. That black compound can do a lot of work combined with a Washboard.
 
HeavyHanded said:
What would it take to make it dish?
Click to expand...

IME, you can sharpen a whole box of "super steel" knives with Glass stones before needing to flatten them. And I'm using the little 1X6 on an Edge-Pro blank. A full size glass should go nearly forever.
 
HeavyHanded said:
That Shapton looks awesome. What would it take to make it dish?

Glad the WB is getting it done as a solution, I know you've been looking for a consistent routine on those softer metals. That black compound can do a lot of work combined with a Washboard.
Click to expand...

Hi, HH. Not really sure what would take to make it dish, to be honest. I didn't know what to expect when I got the stone. "A ceramic stone that releases abrasive" wasn't an intuitive concept to me. I was actually surprised at how "soft" it is; you can definitely gouge this stone. That said, I've used it pretty hard for a few more knives, and it still looks reference flat. Weird stone. Great stone. :D :D

The joke's on me, as I bought it completely accidentally after I misread knifenut's recommendation to get a Beston 500. LOL!
 
The Shapton Glass stones will dish. They are slow to dish, which I think is really a good thing. I was using a DMT XXC plate for flattening the ones I have but my Atoma 140 Plate came today and I'll probably use that in the future.

MG, catch that guy that stole your shoes and start wearing them when you sharpen. ;)
 
I just got my shapton glass bench stones in the mail yesterday. Played with the 500 on an S90V military. Talk about an aggressive edge.
I bought the extra thick 500 stone which comes in a nice case. I wish there were cases for the standard size stones.
 
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