I am by no means an expert but from my short experience I’d say on #1 go as high as you can with the stones you have – a polished edge is an incredible cutter. For #2 no I don’t always start at 100 grit. Lately I’m sharpening Case knives that have the factory edge and I start at 400 as I’m just polishing away the grind lines Case left behind. By the time I get to 1600 and strop to 3.5 micron they are WAY sharper than when I started.
