When the cutting edge has the correct shape, it must be polished to
erase any rough grinding marks and
to achieve a smooth and glossy surface. So the use of grinding stones without changing the shape. This means a succession of increasingly finer grits. Typically, the respective finer grit is finer by a factor of 2-3 than the respective last coarser grit. Apparently, there are no upper limits to the grit, which then turns into cult.
Everyone demands it, but hardly anyone explains how it should work: polishing should always erase the traces of the previous rougher step. This is not so easy to verify. And if both steps take place in the same direction, it's as good as impossible.And what you can't get away with the next-fine step, you can't get away with the next-but-one. For stones, you can try to estimate the change in luster. But it is difficult with diamond plates: there it always looks scratched. Of course, as the scratches get finer, the cutting edge gets better.
One way to estimate this over the burr is described in Stripping the burr.