Shapton polisher -- pro 15k or glass 16k?

I got a good deal on a Shapton Pro 1k/5k/8k set, and honed my first razor today. (With, I think, moderate success. Except for an overzealous application of the thumb pad test. ) Now, I'd like a finishing stone after the 8k (I've currently just got a barber's hone), and I figure I ought to go the next step up with the Shaptons.

Now, the price difference between the Pro 15k and the glass 16k isn't much, but the price difference between the Pro and Glass 30k (which I really want someday) is pretty big. Plus, the 16k is a bit higher grit. I'd ideally like to stay all in the same series, but, given that they're the same manufacturer, would mixing & matching Shaptons be a bad idea?

Short answer: Not a bad idea at all.

Longer answer:

The 15K pro leaves a very nice finish for shaving, so does the 16K. The difference between the 15 and 16K is negligible as far as grit size, but either stone will take you to the 30K glass with ease. Think of it as choosing between a red Ferrari and a black Ferrari

I'm more concerned that you spend a little extra time on the 1K and 5K, since the 1K will leave an edge that is slightly serrated. The jump to 5K is certainly acceptable, but you'll need to be very sure you have cleaned up the 1K edge so that it is without serrations before heading off to the 8K and beyond.

I'd look at getting a 12k before getting a 15k or 16k.

johnmrson said:

I'd look at getting a 12k before getting a 15k or 16k.

Click to expand...

Hmm...it seems there does seem to exist a Shapton Pro 12k, but for some reason not too many places carry it. Most vendors seem to jump from 8k to 15k. There's a 10k glass, but no 12k.

Might a Chinese 12k could be a substitute here? I'd been thinking of getting one, just to have another polisher around to compare to... (*Opens up can of worms in mentioning controversial stone*)

You don't need a 12K if you are jumping from an 8 or a 10K first, to use a 12K in between is redundant. I used to own the 16K glass and I stopped using the 12K in between, there was no difference.

If you ask Glen Username Gssixgun here and on SRP I think he has said the same thing before...

My vote is for the glass stones though.

The Shapton Pro 12K and the Shapton Pro 15K are supposedly similar, but not the same..

The Japanese market has the Shapton Cream colored stone as 12K, the American (and I assume rest of the world outside Japan) has is labeled as 15K. Harrelson as mentioned it being more like a 20K... But wait - there's more!

What is official is that the 12K Japanese stone is formulated differently, and is prone to cracking in more extreme weather changes. The 15K, is formulated to withstand those changes. Here is a post I did elsewhere on the subject.

So, for the 12K recommendation,

The 12K/15K Shapton Pro (cream colored) was invented before microns , so we don't know for sure the exact particle sizes like on the Glass stones. Not a big deal since on the Shapton Pro system, there is no in-between between the 8K and 15K (or 12K) and the 30K. The progression works very well. (I've been using it since 2004).

The Glass stones now have the 8K, 10K 16K and 30K, as well as a few other "odd" grits, like 3K and 6K.

I hope that helps!

Ok.... so is there any qualitative difference between these at all?

My progression goes Shapton Pro 1k,2k,5k,8k & 12k. I then jump to the glass backed 16k and 30k. I think that the jump between the 8k and 16k is too big unless you want to spend a fair amount of time on it. Sure you'll have a shaveable edge if you don't but you're not getting the best out of your stones.

Between the Shapton 12K and Shapton 15K - I would say no. Other than the formulation, I would suspect they are the same grit.

But I do not have the Japanese 12K version.