This is what I had been thinking about for some time, since I have the 100/200, 400/600 and 800/1000 diamond stones, as well as the 1200/1600 ceramic stones. What would be the best (and efficient) Chosera stone to continue with? 5K or lower? (Couldn’t find that on your blog, Tom.) And what would be the best Shapton stone to continue with after my full sequence with the WE stones? 5K as well, as suggested by the grit comparison chart?
Yeah, the Blog didn’t go into progressions past the stock diamond paddles. Perhaps it’s time to write that up…
Since you have the 800/1K and 1200/1600 paddles, The next step would be the 5K Shapton or arguably the 8K, if you go by the micron chart. While you can get very clean edges from the 800/1K diamonds and the 1200/1600 Ceramics before going directly to the 5K Shapton, I am a little biased when it comes to that 🙂
I (personally) strongly recommend the 2K Shapton or even the 3K Chosera to proceed the 5K Shapton Pro in almost all situations, despite the “step back” in micron size. This is because of the “critical leap” that is unique to the 5K Shapton.
It is less of a deal to go directly to the 5K Chosera since it still actively abrades more and can be manipulated with slurry to make it more aggressive – IOW, the 5K Chosera is a cleanup stone. But the Shapton 5K is completely different – it only polishes, it doesn’t function as a cleanup stone. The cleanup on the Shaptons is done on the 1500-2K range (you can use the 3K Chosera before the 5K Shapton, too).
At this point, we venture into the subtle, yet tangible differences between the edges produced by the various mediums available. Diamonds generally leave a more toothy edge, the Choseras a little more polished and smoother, and the Shaptons edges have grip and control. When we go to this area of the discussion, it’s no longer about the micron size.
