On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 13:57:38 -0400, Michael Press
wrote:

snip
But they're not scary sharp - I couldn't cut off arm hairs and I
didn't have any magical transforming experience like I've heard you
get from super sharp tools. Is there another level of sharp I need to
achieve? Would an 8000x waterstone get me there?

4000 grit is good enough for knives and such, but you *need* to go up
to 8000 grit for things like plane irons and chisels. You'll see your
nose hairs and then some and you'll be able to shave all the arm hair
you want. But, like Steve Knight says, shiny doesn't mean sharp. Your
plane iron honed to a mirror finish on 2000 grit sandpaper is not as
sharp as your semi shiny plane iron sharpened on a 4000 grit
waterstone.

Layne