Newbie here, with an honest chisel sharpening question. I've read all sorts of articles here, and on other sites that have you using 4-6 different stones to sharpen up a set of chisels. I was convinced that I'd be spending at least $100 on a set of the "mandatory stones."
However, while visiting with my father in law this last weekend he showed me his technique. I will preface this by saying he has been a mechanical engineer for 25+ years and is known as one of the best in the US in his field....he knows metals, and his stuff. He's also been working with wood for at least 15 years.
He only used a grinder with a coarse grey wheel, and a small $7 Buck Knives Arkansas stone, and put an edge on the chisel that was able to shave hairs off of my finger. He did point out that the use of the grinder could very quickly destroy a chisel (heat), and that he was only able to do it this way after years of practice. He would only let the chisel touch the grinding wheel for a second at most, and was dipping it in water after each pass. The honing (and back flattening) was then done on the small Buck stone with standard Buck honing oil.
I guess I'm having a hard time seeing the need for all of the fancy stones after seeing the edge he was able to produce. My question is: what real advantage do you get from going to the very fine 6000x and 8000x stones? My chisel is now super sharp, and I don't see how any further sharpening would be beneficial for a chisel. Was this just do to his many years of experience? Are the super fine grits only really beneficial for plane irons? Thanks.