Quote Originally Posted by niftyshaving View Post
In the back of your mind know that the Chinese 12K hone
can very much improve the smoothness of a kitchen edge.

There is no need to hone down to 12K.... Just
correctly sharpen your kitchen knife then give
it a short visit on the C12K....perhaps with a very
slightly elevated spine to get a micro bevel effect.

The C12K is the only fine hone I know that is hard enough
that a knife edges does not dig in and grab.
A barber hone also works wonders on kitchen knives.
Thanks,

That is good to know. I max out on a Naniwa Chocera 6K at the moment so it isn't as if my edges are blunt and there is a practical limit on how sharp you want to take a kitchen knife ... but there is a little part of me that knows I can get them sharper still. For me with kitchen knives the most important thing for functional sharpness is to use a slick hone, not a grooved steel, I use a ~1910 F Dick smooth steel and it does the trick, but a good modern glass hone will work just as well.

I'm not a believer in micro bevels, but some people love them.