Jim Hall wrote:
At what point, I wonder, does it
just become perfectionist versus practical.. In other words, does an
8000 grit waterstone, for example, really make a difference. I have one
and use one, but wonder, does it really make a difference for the
average woodworker..

Like many other areas of life, the law of diminishing returns applies.

For straight-grained mahogany it's probably not necessary to be
super-sharp. When dealing with heavily figured wood with reversing
grain (or cutting end-grain in spruce/pine) it makes sense to get the
blade as sharp as possible.

Chris