Originally Posted by
yohannrjm
I think that studies like this are useful, but are really hard to standardize properly.
Even with the hone progression standardized, it is really difficult to get the lighting perfectly even for all the photographs. I used to have access to extremely high-quality microscopes, and even then I had issues with consistent reflected light.
People are going to accept the data that agree with their own observations, and they'll ignore the data that don't.
Still, as more and more data are collated from these finishers, we'll have a chance to cut through the noise for a more accurate description of the finishes from these hones. Of course, the look of the finished edge is only one factor that determines what a good shaving edge may be.