Against my better judgement I'm going to post in a sharpening thread!
I have one of the DMT XXFine stones and despite DMT's mesh claims it doesn't bring my tools to a polish.
But does that actually matter?
I've seen first hand superb craftsmen in Asia using natural water stones that didn't bring their tools to a mirror polish. And I've seen equally superb western craftsmen using oil stones that also didn't deliver a mirror polish. I wonder if there's some psychology at play here, whereby we associate a mirror polish with sharpness and strive for a polish even if it makes little or no difference to the tools real life performance?
I hear the argument that a finely honed edge will be more resistant to breaking down in use, in other words it'll stay sharper for longer. Maybe that's true, or maybe it's just another one of the huge baggage of unsubstantiated mythology that woodworking seems encumbered with.
I don't know.
All I can say is that I've tried using tools honed to 1,000 grit and tools honed to 30,000 grit and if I'm really honest I don't notice a massive difference between them (at least on mild mannered and straight grained timbers) either in cutting ability or in edge retention. I suspect that a really keen edge only lasts for a few swipes of a plane or strokes of a chisel anyway, so the vast majority of our woodworking is actually performed at far lower standards of sharpness.
However, I still go along with the herd mentality and do a final hone at 8,000. That strategy brings the possible benefit of helping identify that I've reached every millimetre of a cambered edge, and also the little pause for re-sharpening before tackling a difficult final cut is useful to steady the nerves and focus. But does it really matter that much? On that I'm less convinced, but unfortunately I'm also too weak willed to throw away all my stones finer than 1,000 grit, and then there's always that beautiful piece of figured timber that probably does benefit for an ultra sharp edge!
