Over-Sharpening

[SteveG]

Mr. Grepper: Thanks for your words of encouragement; I'm ok as a theorist, as a practitioner not so much. As far as understanding this issue, you and I seem to be on pretty much the same page, and you clarified some of my thoughts on the subject. One are where I don't think we see things the same, though, is on single- vs double-bevel edges. To me there's no theoretical difference between them, the only difference is in practice, in that once a woodworker flattens and polishes the non-beveled side of a blade, they'll never touch them again with a low grit stone. I only use my last (finest) stone in the sharpening progression on the back, and then the strop if I go that far. All of the lower grit work is only done on the bevel. How much of a difference that makes, or whether it even does make a difference, I don't know.

Mr. KG: Thank you for explaining the theory, I know one of the postings I read about this was yours, so I'm glad to have your thoughts on this. I *think* I follow your reasoning, but perhaps my next question will determine whether I really do. When I sharpen knives, once I'm past the coarsest stones, I alternate sides on every stroke. My assumption is that at any given grit the burr created is about the smallest possible, and that I'm always then sharpening to your green line, regardless of how many strokes I take. Do you concur, or am I missing the point?

BTW, I love Todd's site, his approach, and especially his amazing images.