A while back I was intrigued by the "unicorn sharpening method" advocated by David Weaver and and discussed/described here on SMC by various posters. In brief, for me this means grinding primary bevel at ~15 degrees on slow speed wheel, free handing on coarser stone slightly higher secondary bevel (~20-25 degrees?), And then removing the wire edge on slow speed buffing wheel with green compound.

I started using this method with paring chisels, gradually moved to standard bench chisels and finally plane irons, both bevel up and bevel down. I'm probably successful about 80% of the time, sometimes requires a do over. I'm very pleased with the results; it's superfast, requires no jigs, only needs two stones (superfine for flattening the back and 800 grit for raising wire edge on the secondary bevel), and best of all I typically get a very sharp edge that last at least as long as is standard 25° primary and 30° secondary bevel. Granted most my work is in hand tool friendly domestic hardwoods. Running my finger along the edge it doesn't always feel razor-sharp but results on the would have been more than satisfactory for me.

I probably end up grinding often and my sharpening station is covered with green compound and buffing wheel debris, but overall I love the speed of resharpening and the quality of the edge. Admittedly I'm not a metallurgist, don't apply any sophisticated scientific method to evaluate "sharpness" and do believe there's a little bit of voodoo in finding/applying the best sharpening technique for various types of steel. That said, I'm definitely a fan. I'm interested in the thoughts and experience of my fellow Creekers?

All the best, Mike