david weaver
I have, of course, churned through a lot of material as a hobby. It's not really related to woodworking though I wanted to find the fastest way to sharpen once I started dimensioning - or more accurately, what would provide the least interruption and wasted effort.

It's probably accurate to say that I only use one method, and even with HSS now, I do the same thing (one method). Grab the tool, rub it on the stone. Generally grind the tool when the edge to rub gets too big.

(no grind for japanese tools, not that you can't).

I can see the appeal of a king 800 from the standpoint of someone who has used a lot of natural stones, especially the folks who like softer natural stones (there are some) and can maintain flatness like warren would (the same way you'd do it freehand).

For the typical person (not you) following a video with a guide, the king will work, but it's not the best (messy, requires the user to keep it flat, and the avenues that the slurry allows will be lost on someone like that).

Despite all of the follow-ons after the shapton pro, though, I'm not aware of anything that I'd call "better", even for a jig puller. Diamond plates are pretty good, but flatness isn't really consistent, neither are scratches, and there isn't a diamond plate that will maintain considerable speed like a shapton pro.

The bester 1200 is just sort of a soakable version of the same thing, and the chosera 800 is like a smoother version of it. The bester 1000 is soft (a completely different stone, better for knives), and the chosera 1000 is a bit finer than its grit would suggest.

(I've sold most of those, but tried a lot).