It was super simple this year, 1k, 3k, 8k, 12k synthetics, I dabbled between Jnat and no Jnat and did not use a strop. No need to strop with such a fine landing behind the edge, in fact it just makes the need to resharpen sooner and dubs the landing.
That's slightly more complicated that my normal approach of 1k, 3k, Jnat but for competition I decided to refine the edge beyond my normal, not sure if it had any real effect.
The lesson learned over last year was the quality of effort is more important than quantity of effort. Meaning that I basically set my blade up, make a few test passes, resharpened then set it aside for competition. I focused on deleting the wear at the earliest stage possible (800 or 1000 grit), then the remainder was focused on fine tuning the burr and edge until it shed itself off of the iron at the final stone.
I had more trouble with the plane body this year since the humidity went crazy overnight and the room itself seems to take on a ton of humidity as the day goes on. The dai moved and so I had to straighten it out and ensure it was perfected.
Last edited by Brian Holcombe; 08-22-2017 at 4:23 PM.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.