Polished edge for knives

[tgbto]

When I began sharpening, I had that conception that a polished edge was better. It also looked damn cool.

Before I bought my T-8, I had #4000 Chosera benchstones, then #6000 EP stones for stick&rod sharpening systems, etc. etc. And I purchased the SJ with my Tormek, a few days before I saw many posts on this forum urging to learn the SG first and decide later.

I still think a polished edge looks better. Yet what I now aim for when sharpening is more of a compromise between sharpness, edge retention, and sharpening time. I consider the conclusions of the late Wootz - namely that edge retention depends mostly on edge angle and steel, not on initial sharpness - a valid basis.

Wootz also recommended to polish the sides - but not the apex - to increase initial sharpness, which requires time and effort, but mostly to obtain a very low initial BESS score.

My experience is that for multipurpose knives (chef/gyutos/santokus) or vegetable knives (nakiri or paring knives), a knife that has been polished to the apex feels less sharp earlier than one that hasn't. For meat-only knives, that don't hit bones, I feel this is less true.

Quite frankly, aside from the neat looks of a SJ-polished edge, I see little interest for kitchen knives sharpening. Quite the opposite. My standard process is ungraded SG and PA-70 honing compound on the leather honing wheel, with the FVB. My BESS scores have dropped consistently over the last two years, and now I hit 70-85 BESS on Global or similar knives, @15dps. And I feel that I have to sharpen them less often.

So I guess my question to you guys would be: do you have similar experiences ? Is there something I might be doing wrong when going SG graded fine -> SJ -> honing wheel ?

[3D Anvil]

I went through a similar process.  When I started to get serious about knife sharpening I was using a fixed-angle system and I was really into mirror edges. 

I guess sushi chefs prefer a very refined edge because they want the cleanest cut possible, but for most other purposes I think a toothier edge is preferable.  Also, even when I use a 400 grit wheel as my final, the bevel eventually becomes polished through repeated stropping.

[John Hancock Sr]

Interestingly I was watching a video last night from a Japanese master craftsman who was talking about sharpening. He said that it was a mistake to take a knife to 10,000 or higher since it - as you say - removes the tooth from the knife and makes cutting thinks with an outer skin such as tomatoes harder.