Note that this stone was on loan so it was only given light use. For commentary on extended use see the thread below which contains feedback from the owner. Content :
The Shapton Professional line of waterstones is one of the most well respected / popular waterstones and certainly among the most expensive.
These waterstones need little introduction. High quality abrasive in a resin binder, they resist dishing well and and well regarded the world over.
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For those seeking a extremely high quality sharpening surface, the Shapton Ceramic Water Stones meet the needs of even the most discerning sharpener.
The Shapton Professional Stones uses very accurately graded ceramic abrasives for fast sharpening. This stone is considered a ceramic waterstone. Unlike older style waterstones that require soaking prior to use, the Shapton Professional stones require only a spray of water prior to use. The binder that holds the abrasives together allows the stone to reveal new abrasive material.
Shapton White #120 - Extra Coarse The Shapton White (#120) stone is formulated for quick steel removal. It can quickly sharpen chipped or pitted edges. The scratch pattern will be coarse but very consistent.
Shapton Pro Dimensions This stone measures 210MM x 70MM x 15MM. This converts to approximately 8 1/4" x 2 3/4" x 5/8". This stone is not only a good overall size but also the thickest of the Shapton stones.
The Shapton Professional Stones are often called the Shapton Pro or the Shapton Traditional Stones. Each of these name refer to the same Shapton series of stones."
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SHAPTON sharpening stones shine when using them to rough-sharpen an edge and for their ability to quickly reach an effective edge. The sharpening process feels very different than working on softer stones. One can feel the relative hardness of the Shapton stones, and it is difficult to avoid repeatedly looking at the stone in use to see if it is really wearing away. But it does, and quickly too! The 120-grit stone cuts about as quickly as the 240-grit SUN TIGER from Matsunaga, and, as noted above, holds its flat surface much longer.
General feedback is usually strongly positive :
I've flattened the backs of at least a hundred blades on a Shapton 120 Pro stone and wouldn't be without it.
It would be awfully agressive for bevels, but for backs, well life is too short to be without one.
However there are some issues raised about the rate of wear and general softness of the stones.
This is a very coarse stone as described by the manufacturer :
Under 50X magnification it shows the expected very coarse abrasive, fairly consistent in size. It also doesn't have that very porous structure which is common in full soak stones. There is enough porosity to hold water and allow it to penetrate lightly, but not deep into and saturate the stone.
As common in waterstones, it generates a finer slurry which is why they typically generate a much finer finish than fixed grit or even oil stones of a similar abrasive size. This is also due to the random scratch patterns produced by 3-body abrasion where the abrasive is rolling in random directions and doesn't penetrate as deep into the surface of the steel.
As to be expected from any decent waterstone, the Shapton Professional 120 comes :
and can be used right out of the box with no preparation.
A soak is not required. In fact there are extensive warnings on the box not to soak it as well as the general warning about :
Consequences of over soaking can be softening of the stones. In extreme cases degrading the stone has been reported to such an extent a very soft almost "gel" like consistency developed. This soft layer has to be ground off to restore the stone to cutting as designed.
However, used with just a spray of water and very light pressure, the stone quickly generates a very thick and coarse slurry and cuts very rapidly.
With very low pressure (< 0.5 psi) due to both :
The Shapton immediately produced a very heavy mud and a very coarse scratch pattern. The rate of material removal made it obvious that this was for heavy grinding work. The very thick slurry that it develops however does lend it self to use as well.
Note the stark contract in the images on the right. The very coarse scratches come directly off the stone. The one on the left is the same blade which was lightly scrubbed with a rag which was used to wipe some of the slurry off of the Shapton. The grit is heavy enough to use as a polishing abrasive and if ran cross to the main cutting pattern it will very quickly blend the scratch pattern into a significantly higher finish and subdue the harsh scratches from the stone.
As a drastic example of how stones can generate a slurry, note the comparison between :
Both of these are very coarse stones, which under magnification show grit which is similar in size, approximately one micron. However the TASK has very little binder and is mainly a block of silicon carbide which is held in place by a very weak bond. It could be described as soft just as would the Shapton as it also releases abrasive readily but what it produces isn't a very even or consistent slurry and it doesn't produce the blended scratch pattern typical of waterstones.
Now to be clear, this isn't a fault of the TASK, it is designed to reshape garden tools and thus often works on steel which actually has not only rust but also dirt. It has to be very soft so that it doesn't clog and remains able to keep cutting even in very demanding conditions.
Note the dramatic difference in what happens as they wear. Both break down in use readily, both wear rapidly but the slurry which develops is very different from one stone to the other.
Again, the TASK wasn't designed to sharpen knives so this isn't a fault. It is just one of the reasons why the grit or size of the abrasive of a stone isn't the only factor in the finish it produces as the TASK produces a much more coarse finish and will literally tear chunks out of an edge if apexed but the grit size is similar to the Shapton Professional 120.
There is a science to making proper cutting stones and it has to balance not just the size and nature of the abrasive but also the bond type. The bond has a strength which controls how much pressure the stone takes before the abrasive is released and the material of the bond itself mixes in with the abrasive and steel as part of the slurry.
The only real complaint about this stone is that it is often described as soft, to the point that some even regard it as useless because it will shed grit and fort a slurry so heavily it is too rapidly consumed. Is this true - well it depends on how it is used. As one specific example :
This is sharpening a traditional Japanese knife and it produces a contact pressure of approximately half a psi. This is a fairly low pressure, consider on a traditional western style knife with a very narrow bevel and short contact area the pressure can easily be 100 times as high.
Even with the very low pressure of 0.5 psi on the traditional Japanese knife the stone readily builds up a very thick slurry and is shedding grit rapidly. This stone is designed to excel grinding under for low force and on very wide bevels, flattening planes for example and thinning out the very wide bevels on traditional Japanese knives and just using barely more than the weight of the knife.
Shapton Professional 120
Comments can be emailed to Please Use the Forum or by posting to the following thread :
and/or the YouTube Playlist for Abrasives/Sharpening.
Most of the pictures in the above are in the PhotoBucket album.
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| Originally written: | 09/09/2013 |