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Hello again- thanks again for all the info. The book everybody mentioned is on the way. I've posted a poll about the best course of action. From what I've gathered the final option seems to be the consensus from knife grinders AG and various other people, but I've also seen everything else. Any input is always massively appreciated.

Thank you for the info, good to know.

Very interesting!

I wonder how a solid carbide blade would hold up. I've also read about monocrystaline steel- apparently there's a special way of cooling the molten steel so that instead of tons of little bits and bobs, one crystal structure forms.

Hello everybody- me again. As many of you suggested, I%u2019ve read back through the forums looking for anything about trailing edge honing techniques, and have learned a ton. And yes, I probably have too much free time on my hands... there%u2019s a lot of information out there. I still have some questions, however.
   This is what I%u2019ve gleaned thus far. It seems the minimum wallet hurty process that yields better results then my current setup would be:
   
   SG200 @220 %u2014> SG200 @1000 %u2014> SJ250 @4000 %u2014> the KG rock hard felt wheel with the FVB & software using controlled angle honing with the 1u diamond spray.
   What a mouthful. In regards to the felt wheel- due to the special qualities of the felt, I think the recommended honing angle is one to one and a half degrees steeper then normal, which removes the burr %u201Cat the source.%u201D I could also be entirely incorrect about all of this.
There are so many different recommendations and techniques bouncing around in my overstuffed brain that I wanted to run this by the experts before taking the plunge.

I%u2019d probably still use the sg200 on the T4 I have now for a bit before getting the SG250, if at all. I find that most of the time, the 220 grit isn%u2019t even necessary. So I%u2019d essentially be using the t4 for rougher grinding up to 1k, and then the t8 for 4k and the felt wheel.

One last note- I keep seeing japanese water stones made by "sun tiger japan." Anybody have any experience with these?

Does this make sense thus far? Any glaringly obvious mistakes/mixups?

Thank you again Rick. I'm yet again blown away by the kindness of those on this forum- thank you all for taking time out of your new years day to discuss sharpening minutiae in great detail, for a random stranger on the internet. Thanks everybody- I'll check out everything recommended. Cheers from cold new england, and best wishes for the new year.

Thank you so much Rick! Very good to know. For the sake of the wallet- is the SB necessary? Or would the SG->SJ->felt work?

Copy, Jeff. Understood. Thank you for clarifying.

Thanks for all the info everybody!

Good to know about the grinding pressure/direction, Rick. What's a good source for felt wheels? I can't seem to find any decent ones the right size. In tandem with the SJ, would you use diamond paste? If so, what grit? I've worked with pretty much every kind of hand stone- arkansas, japanese water stone, diamond, silicon, etc, but I've never used felt wheels before. I assume they're essentially very hard honing wheels? The hardness sounds great- I've always found that squishier/more padded materials like leather never left as good an edge as bare MDF or float glass/sandpaper.

Whoops, good catch. Thank you.

Great idea, thank you. Any input on the sj250 vs diamond?

Thank you Jeff-

Ah, that makes sense. Sharpening direction would be crucial. Agreed- the sg200 is definitely nice for standard sharpening. That's the thing- anybody can do standard sharpening, I'd like to be the above and beyond person who they go to for supreme sharpness and ease of use. I think either the SJ250 or the xf diamond wheel can do that. These people are not looking for the "average joe" sharpening. Thank you for the suggestion about the package deal- do you think it would be worthwhile to get duplicates of the turning tool? I already have one from the t4, which is why I was looking at the stripped version. I'm in touch from Wolfgang from advanced machinery- an excellent human who is very reasonable with regards to the stripped t8 pricing.

Hello all!

Long time forum lurker and professional sharpener here. I%u2019ve been running a moderate to high traffic sharpening business for the last year and a half or so, using the t4 and the standard SG-200 stone. I sharpen scissors, plane blades, chisels, and turning tools, but most of my business comes from local family's chef knives- not super high quality, but high volume and returning customers. I recently got an opening with a high quality catering business, and was realizing that my sharpening game needed to be upped.
A little background- I love the strop and honing compound for most woodcarving edge tools- I find the microscopic rounding and polishing to be extremely beneficial to longevity and smoothness of finish. However, when sharpening kitchen knives, the microscopic smoothing and rounding over caused by the strop can be detrimental. In my experience, you need flat or concave mirror polished surfaces for a supremely efficient edge. My current technique is to use the fine side of the sg200 on the t4 for sharpening, then take 1 verrrry light stroke on either side of the blade to remove the burr. This leaves a relatively decent, slightly sawtoothed edge, perfect for slicing vegetables and cutting meat. My ideal edge would be %u201Ctoothy polished,%u201D as it would last longer then the standard 1k grit edge but still slice through fibers with ease.
   Back to the question. For the most part, the t4 has served me well. Occasionally I have to take a break due to the duty cycle, and I find the smaller size impedes sharpening of larger turning tools, but on the whole, it%u2019s been decent. The price of the SJ-200 is almost the difference between the cost of the t4 and the stripped version of the t8. I%u2019d like to upgrade to a t8, but I%u2019m not sure about the stones.
      Should I get the SJ-250 in addition to the standard? I%u2019ve read some criticisms about the 2j-250 being too soft, catching knives and taking chunks out of a $$260 stone. Not ideal. In addition, with the volume of work I do, I worry about longevity. In a year I%u2019ve gone through the normal 2G200 and started on the next. Would the sj necessitate an intermediate stone? Or would the standard sg250 at maximum polish still work?
      Alternatively, I%u2019ve seen some interesting results with rock hard felt/paper. Any and all recommendations are welcome. 

May you be the sharpest knife in the drawer, and not a dull tool.