Its not the system used, it is knowing what sharp is and the steps needed to get the edge there. If you don't have an understanding of what an edge can be, you have no idea when the edge is sharp.
No matter what technique or tool is used, knowing when you've achieved the desired result is what you need to know.
Now choose one of many ways to do it and don't buy hype, Fred
That's it, in a nutshell, right there.^ :thumbup:
I view my early use of a guided system (Lansky, primarily) as a 'stepping stone' in learning the points above. For me, prior to trying the guided system, I was never able to produce a burr on an edge, because my angle control was horrible. I was real good at producing rounded 'apexes' (ahem, using that term loosely); but that meant I was never crisply apexing, which means I never produced and never came to know the significance of the burr.
When I finally produced a HUGE burr on the guided setup, I was so oblivious that I didn't even recognize it for what it was. I was just wiping down the edge during sharpening, and a 'sliver' of steel broke off and laid on my fingertip. I thought something was WRONG with the steel, until the 'light bulb' clicked on in my head (Ooohh, THAT'S what a BURR is supposed to be...). Lesson learned.
And because the angle was tightly controlled, and because I finally DID crisply apex the edge, I finally learned what SHARP really was. All thanks to that guided setup. Each person gets there in different ways, but that's what finally turned my learning curve in a steeply positive direction. I don't need the guides anymore, but I've never regretted what I learned in using them.
David
