Hi Henry
Recently I sent 4 knives to Clay to use in an experiment to compare the results from a sharpening with a full set of Chosera and Shapton stones right through from 100 grit paddles to the finest grit of those excellent Japanese stones…the highly polished edges on those 4 knives were so sharp that they seemed to literally melt the paper in the usual paper cutting test and the hair on my arm magically disappeared with no pulling as each blade moved over my arm. I have never had such sharp knives before. So I believe that probably gives you my answer to question 1.
Question 2 is easy…in my opinion, you don’t have to start with the lowest grit paddles but for the very best known edge geometry, the results will be better if you start with the roughest grits first making sure that the scratches go right out to the very edge and raise a burr on each side of the blade before progressing to the finer grit paddles. The result will then be an extremely sharp edge of known values set up on your rig. This way you can always repeat that edge by using the same settings. Once you have done this the first time, touching up the keenness of the blade is simple task requiring only a few moments.I think Clay will agree with me here but I may stand corrected if I have misinterpreted his ideas.
Sorry for the wordy response…I hope this helps.
Leo
