I used the new toy to play with three different knives this evening. I'll share my thoughts, although I might be totally off base. More experimentation is certainly needed.
The first was the Spydie, which has been a little neglected, necessitating some coarse shaping. I started with a 220 Edge Pro stone, and as I was playing around, I gave it some East-West, and came up with a satisfyingly toothy edge. Interesting...
But the edge still needed some shaping and I was growing impatient, so I fixed it up with a Ken Schwartz 150 Bamboo. It cuts about as fast as if I took the blade to the angle grinder. After restoring the shape I wanted, I gave it some East-West, and couldn't get a sharp edge. So I went to the Ken Schwartz 400 Bamboo, finished East-West, and the edge was still not to my liking.
What's up with that? I think that Ken's stones cut really fast, and leave a burr that's hard to get rid of. The Edge Pro stones cut really slow, so it's easier to deburr an edge, and maybe that's why I can get a sharp edge with a coarser grit. More experimentation needed...
Since I had to see what I could do with the Edge Pro, I took the Spydie to 0.25μ at 19°, and I'm liking the results. See the picture below.
Next was an old Henkles kitchen knife that I've had for 30+ years. Again, I took it to a quarter micron, but went a little steeper, and it came out nice.
Last was a little knife that I made out of a power hacksaw blade and some exotic wood that came from a tree in the yard. It's a pretty little knife, but the edge has never been completely gratifying. Even when nicely polished. So this time I took it to 21° East-West with an 800 Edge Pro stone, then stropped just a little with 1μ CBN. Now the edge is a little toothy, and quite suitable. More experimentation is needed here.
Besides working on polishing, I need to work out the challenges of photographing edges. This will have to do for one evening.