Yeah ... that's the thing. When we first set the edge up we want it to be dead nuts sharp ... but in use ... heck, a decent edge is good enough and that's fine for us because we're mostly using soft woods ... and there's lots of easy ways to get a decent edge.

I can't sharpen anything free hand without eventually creating a micro bevel ... or steepening the micro bevel on the edges that I've added one. That's not so tough to remedy on my English made tools ... but that ain't so with my Japanese tools. I don't use a micro bevel on my Japanese stuff and if one gets added by sharpening freehand ... it can be tough to take out because the steel is so hard ... and the wider the edge the harder it gets. But ... it ain't like a micro bevel is the end of the world and as long as it cuts right I won't fret about it ... but ya do come to a point where ya gotta fix it.

I used to use SS and no matter what I did the glass slid around or rocked. The thing I like about the granite reference block is it's dead flat and doesn't move around ... and it's big enough that you can take a good long stroke when using a jig. Because it's thick I can put a lot of pressure on the edge with the Brian Burns jig ... can't do that with glass. BTW ... I've been using the BB jig for about 5 years now and IMO it's way, Way, WAY better than my old Veritas jig. It's really easy to set the angle up, holds anything and holds it tight ... even blades with a highly tapered thickness ... and it's made to put your body weight into the stroke. It's a real beast ... but a friendly one ... wouldn't be without it. Bit pricey though!