Geometry Cuts! Edge sharpness is of secondary importance and once an apex is achieved at the filing stage, higher grits equal diminishing returns. Its worth noting when cutting wood sometimes a toothier edge sharpened with a course stone can actually sometimes cut better than a higher grit smooth edge.

This is how I sharpen my axes and I think the results speak for themselves. I have no significant damage cutting beech, fir and sycamore/maple and generally take no care for knots. I do not baby my axes yet have had great success with sub 20 degree bevels on axes that are considered 'budget' such as council tool and hultafors/ hults bruk agdor. Any minor rolls or chips have been fixable by one or two passes with a file, hardly a catastrophic failure that some sources would claim.