I used to extend my honing progression all the way to 30K, but lately I've stopped at my 12K Naniwa SS and plain leather stropping and find those edges shave very well. My experience has been that some steels don't hold up well at 16K and 30K levels. I know that 16K and 30K edges should be sharper and perhaps more refined, but my results with 12k have been so good that I see no reason to go further.