That's what I love about knifemaking... I agree with many of the points but come to a different conclusion, at the end of the day. I jump back and forth between sharpening on belts, oil stones, wheels, diamond, water stones, ceramic rods, carbide jigs and lapping sheets on granite. Sure, I have my favorites, but they ALL work. I totally respect but get a kick out of some of the gadgets/jigs folks use to get the "perfect edge"... some of them remind me of the
Rube Goldberg machines.
I was a knife enthusiast and user loooong before I was a maker and never once fretted about the original angle of the edge. Chris Reeve, was one of the first high-end knives I owned and remember dreading the day I had to touch it up. The edge it came with was the sharpest I had ever encountered and it simply showed me that edges could get sharper than I thought. Maybe all this newfangled, stay-shiny steel that requires abrasives forged from the heart of a dying star to sharpen has changed the game.
Learning how to get a knife sharp on a multitude of $#!tty equipment has taught me more about edges than any single miracle method could.
Oh. yeah.... and the
final sharpening is the best part... aside from having the payment clear and the delivery confirmation notice.
Rick