Lot's of discussions about testing final polish: HHT, and and and... These make it simple to evaluate the 'goodness' of a stone, with 'goodness' being defined as something like "the speed of which it gets me to HHT4 or 5 or..."
But what about the middle stones? The 3k's and 5k's and Aoto's and DMT greens etc. I ask because I have too many such stones, and want a way to form a more informed opinion of their 'goodness'. Sometimes I use these to set a bevel on a razor or as middle stones for all sorts of edge tools. All the edge tools get a final treatment--either strop or 'stone' depending on what I'm doing with it.
Then there's the knives. My pocket knife I do like a razor. But the scads of kitchen knives typically stop at one of the middle stones and this is the conundrum. Frankly, I'm as lazy with Kitchen knives as I am overly-neurotic with razors, chisels, and my pocket knife. Edge tools, razors, I want the best possible edge. Kitchen knives, I want the fastest way to fix the shameful abuse my wife and children heap on the CCC (Crappy Chicago Cutlery) blades while spending only that time necessary to get the minimal edge that won't irritate me when cutting an onion.
Sometimes I do the sequence: 140gr atoma, a 1k Chosera or Ikarashi or Soft Arky, then 'finish' with one of a couple Aoto's or a hard arky or a DMT green. Sometimes I just pick up a middle stone like Aoto or hard arky and start grinding away. If I'm SUPER particularly lazy, I turn on the grinder and run the blade across the chrome-oxide felt wheel until I'm bored. Frankly, I can't figure out which method is best. I'm particularly irritated by not being able to choose 'best' between two aotos and a hard arky.
The confusion comes down to: what's the right sharpness test for the kitchen knife? I don't always have tomatoes lying around? I'd like to do some testing but don't know the criteria I should use. What say you?