I for one, was taught to be in the group that a 80 grit wheel brought
an edge to a reasonable enough point that it was where I should be,
and "someday" if I wanted to I could probably see the cutting
differences between that and a 120 grit wheel. Then I watched Alan
Lacers video and thought what a nut, stroping a skew. That edge should
simply dull faster. (thats what I was told) I had no reason not to
believe the man who taught me turning, he is well respected and well
thought of (still so in my mind too) However, once I saw a partial
explanation in Mike Darlow's sharpening video, it hit me. I was not
open enough to the science of what was happening. A 80 or 120 grit
wheel still leaves a fairly serated edge, in comparison to a plane or
hand chisel blade, it's visible to the naked eye. Take that edge and
hone it, heck yesterday I took my skew to a natural japanese water
stone. Those serations are far smaller and get far better support from
the surrounding steel. So starts the arguement that the sharper edge
will last longer. The coarser serations from an 80 or 120 grit wheel
should break off faster.
I doubt that there would be any real noticable difference in the cut
or finish either tool makes, but the concept of a longer lasting edge
from this perspective is interesting.