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Sorry typo. Weekly ads. We get them from local stores in the mail. They are printed on thin newsprint. Sharp knives glide through smoothly. Use feel and hearing to detect any burr along the edge.

Thermal receipts and weekly ass printed on thin newsprint paper are also good indicators.

Some also use cigarette papers to measure sharpness.

I know it might be a bit of a pain but I am wondering how a tethered image from my 25MP Nikon D750 would look on my HD monitor. 25MP allows me to zoom in on details without loss of image quality. I have a nice macro lens that would work well.

One word of caution with the inexpensive USB microscopes is that most are not compatible with your phone last time I looked at them.

I think many users worry unnecessarily about consuming the SG-250. When I have knives that need more material removed I do not hesitate in using the coarse side of the grading stone. I also in the camp that trues the stone fairly often rather than letting it go and removing a lot of material less often. Unless you are using a dial indicator to measure runout it is often hard to detect an out of round condition.

When chasing the sharpest edge I personally look at whose knife it is that I am sharpening. It is not too difficult to obtain an edge that is better than almost every out of the box knife. This can be achieved with the SG-250 and leather wheel. For my knives and a couple of customers I will use a second leather wheel with 1µ diamonds. I also look at the time required to change wheels to a progressively finer grit when doing multiple knives when few appreciate the knifes sharpness beyond out of the box.

I don't find the leather wheel with paste all that messy. I fall into the camp that adds paste occasionally rather than with almost every knife as you see in some of the videos. I think it becomes finer with use giving me a better final edge. I also have a second leather wheel for a few knives that is charged with 1µ diamonds. Using a light touch and not over honing also is important in getting the bet edge in my experience.

Here is my opinion and the order in which I would buy things.

1. I would get the MB-102 as it is more versatile and cost difference is marginal.
4. KS-123 I have used App and KS-123 and prefer the KS-123 for ease of use and no extra measuring needed.
I would do 1 and 4 together

2. I have 2 leather wheels one is used most often with Tormek paste. The otheer I keep in plastic bag and it uses 1µ spray. No experience with felt.
3. No opinion on jigs

Is your machine in a basement that has high humidity? I have a dehumidifier in my basement that runs mostly in the more humid months. I have never had mold on my wheel as it dries fairly soon after use.

A link would be useful. When I do a search on my Amazon I only see $338.

I would like to get one of these knives.

I was one of the early owners of the US-430 and it is always mounted for sharpening. I use the standard support bar on the honing side. Saves a little time especially if I am sharpening knives and if I am able to maintain a constant projection.

You may also want to try using less pressure when sharpening and honing. A more delicate touch is also a good skill if you ever move to the diamond wheels.

a double bevel with each side at a unique angle.

I have several-plus japanese knives, but none is of that type. I own some with the same angle on both sides but sharpened assymetrically : the bevel on the left side is much smaller than on the right side. In order to keep them this way, I sharpen about 4 strokes on the wide side, one on the thin side. They have a very thin yet very sturdy blade, and are sharpened around 12.5dps. Edge retention is amazing.

One of these days I need to convert this to a data sheet for easy access.

This is one of the reasons I love TormekCalc so much : each knife has its own entry so you can select it with a single click then just set the right distances.

Here is an article that discusses what I was describing. I think that since this was written the availability of symmetrical Japanese knives has increased dramatically for the Western market.

https://japaneseknifesharpening.blogspot.com/2012/03/asymmetry-real-deal.html

As I am sure you are aware Japanese knives are made with several styles of bevel. Single bevel, Western double bevel and a double bevel with each side at a unique angle. They may also come with smaller bevel angle than many western knives. Being left handed I have stuck with western style double bevel with my Japanese knives. Also try and develop a light touch with the diamond wheel as it cuts quicker than the SG-250. I also like to use a jeweler's loupe to inspect the entire knife edge. You will often find areas that were missed in your initial passes due to prior poor sharpening practices.

I maintain a small concierge sharpening business with limited customers as I don't want it to turn into a job. One thing I have done is create a notebook with a section for each customers knives. I include sharpening angle, jig projection length for next time and any reprofiling or repair that I need to do.

With Thanksgiving food prep coming up I will try and use my one Shan Zu knife utility knife as much as possible. I doubt that even with the holiday increase it won't see enough use to make an informed judgement.

I have a Shan Zu utility knife, however, I have not used it enough to give an informed opinion. Out of the box it was very sharp and comfortable to use. I have seen some comparison videos and the Shan Zu the core tested as advertised for hardness. It also fared well in other tests. I really don't need another chefs knife but I am tempted.