My rig: Brian Burns jig (love it), 1000 grit diamond stone, 12,000 grit water stone ... nothing in between, power strop with chromium oxide (.5 micron) or boron carbide (1 micron) paste for the final edge and frequent touch-ups. No micro bevels on American or Japanese steels because I power strop. I hate sharpening so I power strop often ... only takes 30 seconds to renew the edge.

I'd love to try the 3M mylars mounted on a gauge block ... but moving around a 50 pound gage block isn't my idea of fun!

Ken Blanton

: I find that the diamond stones are good for establishing a basic
: bevel or removing a chip, but then you will most definitely need
: to switch to much finer grits for the microbevel. I use mylar
: sheets from Lee Valley Tools that are down to .5 microns, which
: is roughly 9000 "grit" and follow that with a honing
: compound. Definitely read the article in Fine Woodworking. Or
: any article in Fine woodworking- they do at least one per year.
: I use a Veritas honing guide. It's fast and repeatable with the
: microabrasives.

: m