The answer is *exactly* what
@M1k3 replied here:
Thin geometry leading into the edge. Hopefully that goes without saying.
A finish that is not massively low. For instance; you can get dynamite kitchen knife edges off an SG500, but if a very a clean paper towel drop is what you’re looking for - it’s gonna be difficult.
But not too high either. When cutting a tomato you want some teeth on the edge to make the initial cut through the tough skin. But once you’ve done that, then cutting the rest of the soft, watery flesh is very easy. Paper towel otoh is
consistently tough all the way the through the cut, so you really definitely do need that toothiness, because you’re
continually needing to make the ‘initial cut’.
Deburr well on stones. If you leave some of the deburring for a leather strop to sort out, you’ll end up with quite a refined/polished/rounded edge from the leather. Try to do it well on your final stone so you only need to strop lightly on cotton or cardboard, and you’ll preserve more of the bite of finishing on a proper abrasive. If you strop on diamond or compound loaded leather though - I imagine it’s gonna make it very easy drop paper towel. At least in theory. I don’t do that kind of thing, so can’t tell you for sure.
I personally find it easier on certain types of natural stone - Washitas, Cotis, BBW, Turkish - than synths. Though I suspect that’s simply because I use them quite a lot, and I’m quite dialled into them and how they work. Which relates to another point, put succinctly by both
@M1k3 and
@stringer:
Sharpening a knife is quite exceptionally simple. We’re all doing exactly the same thing, but all in slightly different ways.
Watching stuff and reading stuff can be useful and interesting (I’ve certainly learned from both Mike and Stringer). But beyond a point; you can’t read or watch your way to being better at sharpening, you just have to do it. Over and over and over again. Until you find what works best for
you.