I know, I know, high grit stones produce overly polished edges that aren't good for kitchen duties.
I dont know about 'good'... that is really a matter of taste!
It is also task dependent. For example, you might not want an insanely sharp knife if you are removing silver skin... If your knife is 'too' sharp, you might find yourself slicing through the membrane frustratingly frequently. On the other hand, not that I would really know... I suspect sushi prep benefits from the sharpest edge you are willing to achieve.
It isn't so much that overly polished edges aren't 'good' for kitchen duties... I suspect many people just consider achieving them to be an inefficient usage of time. That tired management adage comes to mind: you complete the first 90% using 10% of your time; the final 10% takes the remaining 90% of your time. Food preparation is pretty taxing on highly refined edges. Unless you have delicate knife skills, an 8K edge might only last several minutes before it is indistinguishable from a 4K edge (if it is even discernable in the first place). So seeking out extreme edge refinement is a questionable investment of time if you don't have a specific reason for doing it! (e.g. deliberate and gentle cuts through sushi or slicing thin pieces of meat)
For anyone who has travelled the inevitable journey of reaching their limits on high grit stones, I'd encourage you to see how close you can get to that result on the next lower stone.... and then the next lowest... and so on. You might find that 4K is a level or two above your
honest needs. My diet is dominated by vegetable prep. I find that a well done 1K edge is perfectly serviceable
for me. Although I know I can potentially get a 'better' edge by using higher grits, I don't feel disadvantaged by the less refined edge. That said; over the years I have spent a fair amount of time thinning my favourite knives.
My knives aren't 'sharp'... they are thin behind the edge.
I used to maintain a secondary bevel. I did this because it is common advice. Also, by sharpening at the secondary bevel angle, you can keep the primary bevel looking nice. If you ever want to thin, restoring the finish of the primary bevel can be a lot of work. However, if you are willing to ignore aesthetics, then you can work on the primary bevel as often as you want. If you keep your knives thin behind the edge, a coarse stone can reset the primary bevel to a zero grind pretty quickly. I now do this
almost every time I sharpen. With a zero grind, it doesn't take much work on a higher grit stone to establish a microbevel.
My progression is Cho 400 to Cho 1K or 3K. I hesitate to call this a hybrid edge. My impression is that hybrid edges finish on higher grit stones... That said, I think there is an overlap in concepts.
in fact I stopped typing my comment….
