i was talking to a guy who participates in bladesports competitioins and he said a coarse or toothy edge is a better edge to have on a knife when competing.

Ok, what are we competing in? I'm curious as to the type competition we are talking about here.

I have a lot to learn when it comes to sharpening, I have a feeling I have been doing it all wrong.

That is what I have heard from guys that compete and build knives for the fun sport.

SF, I can get some really good working edges on stones but I still want a belt sander and bench grinder for the ease and speed of doing my blades.

SF, they are talking about Bladesports, what used to be called Cutting Competitions that was taken over and made into an organization to standardize all blade cutting competitions with the overall championship held at Blade each year.

Check out that name on YouTube, pretty cool cutting contests involving rope, wood, straws, golf balls and water bottles. A lot of precision is involved in it as well as a sharp knife.

Now, let me be sure I'm getting this right. You aren't talking SHARPNESS but the way the edge is--coarse vs polished. I assume you can have a push-sharp toothy edge. Or am I reading this wrong? I use coarse and fine diamond hones for my Vs and coarse and fine stropping compound for my convex. They get dang sharp and generally seem to hold fairly well.

I know some steels, like D-2 naturally take a generally toothy edge.

Ok, I really don't know what I'm talking about <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Haha,they are talking about are the microserratios very course or very fine. In other words do you like a more "toothy" edge(course) or a fine (polished)edge? is that better or did I only confuse you more?

Right, but that doesn't necessarily impact the overall sharpness--just the "toothiness", correct? I'n other words, you can have a toothy edge that's done up with a coarse hone and maybe passed a few times with a fine one, but that can still push cut.

Yes. That is what I do on my knives. Now I do not like a RAZOR edge, to fragile for me, and believe it or not, sometimes a HIGHLY POLISHED edge, will slide where one with more tooth will grab and cut. I get a course "toothy, sharp)edge and hit it a few licks on a fine stone just to even things up and I am done. Always cut good for me that way

A knife's edge is like a saw blade. It has "Teeth". The smaller the teeth the less "Bite" it will have if you will.

Imagine a hand saw wood and a metal saw. Both sharp. One will cut wood like there is no tomorrow and one takes longer and can almost slide off at times. And here I go confusing you again.

Toothiness and Polished are only terms for the edge teeth size and do not necessarily have any impact on sharpness, just how they "grab" the material being cut.