The Shapton Precision Lapping
and Sharpening System
How are Shapton Stones made?
Technically, Shapton stones are called non organic composites. Imagine a handful of hard ceramic particles suspended in a resin binder. Shapton’s secrete is in its mix and dispersion of those particles in their binder. It’s very difficult to create a stone like this without inconsistencies like soft spots or odd grits mixed in. Shapton’s engineers have a deep understanding of the nature of steel removal and surface preparation at the nano level.The Engineering Team
Shapton has a group of engineers on staff that are constantly trying to improve the product. They are focusing on the smallest details like the chamfers around the edges of stones, of the packaging and most importantly, they consider the performance of the stones in use. When you pull Shapton stone off the line and you compare it to another one made two or three days later, they are incredibly uniform. It is very difficult to find any dissimilarities between two Shapton products. The key aspect of Shapton methodology is their insistence on a very high degree of uniformity. Shapton engineers talk about steel removal at the level of 1000ths of a micron, nano.Shapton stones are highly engineered
Each individual Shapton Glass Stone is now marked on the back with the abrasive size to two decimal places. A 16,000 grit is Glass Stone is .92 microns. This demonstrates Shapton's uniformity and makes it easier to compare grit sizes. The Glass Stone series represents our most advanced technology. Designed for speed, easy handling and simple maintenance. Shapton stones and accessories are carefully designed to function together as a complete system to help the sharpener achieve great results quickly and consistently.Why are the Glass Stones so thin?
Shapton stones wear very slowly. Additionally, they are designed to be used completely. You can use a Shapton Glass Stone until you wear through to the glass. You can still sharpen even when the abrasive is paper thin because it is supported by the glass backing plate.Flat Stones are really important
Why is a flat stone so important? If your stone is not flat, you cannot consistently shape the edge. Imagine having a dip in the stone and a dip in the knife produced from using the steel constantly in the kitchen. The dip in the stone and the dip in the edge of the knife would work against each other making it very hard to get the bottom of the dip in the knife to contact the surface of the stone they just really couldn't mate up to each other. The flatter the stone is, the easier it is to have the edge mate up with the surface of the stone. Additionally, the flatter the stone is, the more abrasive you will come in contact with while you're sharping. The more abrasive you can come in contact with as you're sharpening, the faster you're sharpening is going to progress. Sharpening is really a process of sculpting. You are sculpting the edge on the stone as you're working. A flat stone will help you go much faster and at a stone that's more resilient is going to help you shape the edge or form the edge more easily than a soft stone that conforms to the shape of the edge. If you're using a stone that is soft enough to wrap itself around an edge, you will not be able to shape the steel efficiently. A flat resilient stone will help you maintain crisp geometry. The Shapton Diamond on Glass Lapping Plate (DGLP) is designed to keep your stones flat throughout the sharpening process.What is the difference between the HR and the HC series?
The HR stands for high resistance. HC stands for high carbon. High resistance steels have various amounts of molybdenum, chromium, vanadium and nickel. These steels are difficult to abraid and generally come under the heading “stainless”. They may actually be softer than some high carbon steel but, are more resistant to abrasion. High carbon steel's are generally very simple aloy steels often called “White steel” in Japanese. Presently, there are three stones in the Shapton HC line, the HC4000, the HC6000 and the HC8000. Modern high resistant alloys will feel very slow cutting on the HC stones. Simple high carbon steels, will polish on the HC stones with a very fine grain viewed microscopically. Modern stainless alloys, will respond very well to the HR series stones we recommend using course grit stones with stainless alloys for initial edge creation. After the edge is well defined, modern stainless alloys will respond very well to Shapton's finer grit stones. A common grit progression for modern stainless alloys is 220, 2000 an 16,000 in the HR series.Why is the DGLP so expensive?
Shapton's diamond glass lapping plate (DGLP) is a precision measuring tool. The plate is created by imbedding diamonds in the surface of a solid plate of high precision float glass. The surface of the plate is calibrated to a spec that exceeds plus or -5 microns. A micron is the thousands of a millimeter. The total deviation in the surface of the lapping plate falls in the range between zero and 10 microns. This is measured with special equipment in a clean environment in the Shapton factory in Japan. This calibration is performed before the diamonds are attached to the surface of the plate using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Once the diamonds are attached to the surface of the plate, the surface of the plate can no longer be measured with equipment available today. However, a stone that has been flattened with the plate can be measured. At the factory, we regularly measure stones that have been flattened with the DGLP to plus or minus one or 2 microns. Additionally, the uniformity of the diamonds used in the plate is printed on the back of the plate. After considering the level of technology used to create the DGLP, the price is much easier to understand.Why do microns and nanometers matter?
Great sushi chefs will tell you that properly cut fish and vegetables will absorb very little soy sauce. This is because the knife has literally cut through the cell structure at the molecular level leaving a very tight, cohesive cell structure intact. Conversely, a rough edged knife will leave an open grain surface that will absorb far more liquid and oxidize quickly. This is also true for wood finishing. Really great edges leave really great finishes.The sharpening concept
Think of sharpening and polishing differently, separately. For actual edge and bevel creation, use the flattest most perfect surface you can have to work with on the stone. For polishing, a little bit of give so the stone can wrap around the steel a bit is helpful. However, too much wrap leaves a rolling, uneven surface. Polishing a curved surface is a challenge. You want to knock off the tops of the hills without digging at the valleys.Challenge the steel
Polishing out the surface of the outside of a single bevel is challenging as the bevel is curving in two directions. If you can build a good sub-straight, then it is much easier to polish out each subsequent surface. It takes a lot of practice to get the sub-straight right. Consistent repetitive motion with careful attention to the high spots is key. Choosing the right abrasive at the right moment comes from experience. Shapton produces systems to make these sharpening issues easierWhat is Togi?
Sharpening and polishing a bevel are two different things. Polishing is like working a lacquer surface, the sub-straight must be very well formed so the delicate surface can be created on top of it. All the high spots have to be taken down without digging at the low spots. Sharpening is about forming and removing a burr in an absolutely consistent manor. Bringing the two together is the Art of "togi". Shapton has a deep understanding of the balance of density, resilience and abrasive power required to create tough, beautiful edges and surfaces. The engineers at Shapton take their work very seriously with amazing focus. They are constantly trying to improve their manufacturing and it shows in their products. In the past 10 years, Shapton has made so many small improvements that have been emulated by other manufacturers. It's really exciting to see so much energy brought to bear to improve our sharpening results. The diamond on glass lapping plate is a perfect example.They key to sharpening
Leveling surfaces by taking down the high spots without further digging at low spots. This is the key to sharpening. Uniformity of the surface is the goal. If the surface has highs and lows, the reflection will not have much clarity. Wether the edge is too thick for one chef or too thin for another is of no consequence. Shapton gives you control of those things due to the resilience of the abrasive medium. "Resilience" not hardness. Shaptons are not all that hard. Resilience means that the abrasive hangs together longer. If the abrasive breaks down before it can take the high spots down, then, it will begin to abrade the low spots extending sharpening time.Sculpt the surface to become flatter and flatter.
Take away the metal that doesn't belong and leave the metal in the lowest spots. This is an efficient sharpening, edge-sculpting-pollishing process. Shapton makes this process predictable and easily repeatable. Soft abrasives will round over the corners of scratches spreading out the surface area that refracts light making the surface appear more uniform. The problem is that the soft abrasive doesn't have the resiliency to take down the high spots. It conforms to the steel, abrading the highs and low spots at the same time.With Shapton, three good things are happening;
One, the abrasive is resilient enough to take down the high spots without touching the low spots. The DGLP gives us the ability to reset the stone to near perfect flat again and again. It's amazing to work the bevel on a knife and have the whole bevel perfect, except for the tiniest spot somewhere. The stone is so flat and resilient that it is working the rest of the bevel without giving and rounding the untouched area. A softer stone would give and the untouched area from the Shapton would get rounded over leaving an imperfection in the surface. The precision of these tools is amazing. Maintaining this level of precision has everything to do with the resiliency of the abrasive. If the abrasive were soft, the flatness of the DRLP would be meaningless because the super flat surface would not last more than one pass.
Two, the consistency of the abrasive particle size in a Shapton glass Stone is singular. Sharpeners who have worn out other stones stones will understand, consistency in abrasives is rare. Shaptons are always consistent from start to finish. Also, the abrasives are measured and quoted in microns to two decimal places. Again, without this kind of consistency, super uniform scratch patterns would be impossible.
Three, the volume of abrasive is very high in the Glass Stones. Look how many scratches there are and how close they are together. This is why Shaptons cut fast at every grit level.
The better the geometry of the sub-straight, the more contact you will get with the abrasive and the more efficient sharpening and polishing becomes. Shapton incorporates all these attributes inito the manufacturing and development of every product.
No, the glass stones are designed to be less fragile than traditional block style Waterstone's. The glass backing plate is made of tempered glass. It may survive being dropped once or twice but probably not on a concrete floor. It really depends on how the stone contacts the floor.
If you are a knife sharpener, looking to buy just one stone, we recommend the Shapton 2000 grit Glass Stone. This is our "MIGHTY STONE". The GL2000 is coarse enough to still cut significant steel and fine enough to leave a useful edge.
If you are looking for complete Shapton knife sharpening system, we recommend the Shapton 500 grit, 2000 grit, 4000 grit, 8000 grit and 16,000 grit glass stones in the HR series. To keep your stones absolutely flat, the DGLP is recommended. To complete the system, Get a pond and two heavy stone holders.
For a professional chef who sharpens at work and at home, we recommend the Shapton three Stone knife sharpening set. This is a four piece set consisting of three stones and a mobile Stone holder. The three stones in this set are the glass Stone 500 glass Stone 2000 and the glass Stone 16,000. All three stones pack up inside the portable Stone holder and are held together with a wide Velcro strap. This makes carrying the stones back and forth between work and home easy. We recommend using the 16,000 in lieu of a sharpening steel. The 16,000 will renew an edge more consistently and faster than a traditional steel.
For beginners, we also recommend the three stone knife sharpening set. You can always add grits later to the system.
For advanced sharpeners who have a good understanding of abrasive technology, we recommend the Shapton HC series for high carbon cutlery. The stones in this series are highly engineered and produce the finest grain scratch patterns that we have ever seen under a microscope. It is important to keep in mind that these stones are specialized and they will not respond well to every steel. Shapton's HC stones when matched well, will produce astounding results.
