I love cats, and dogs - I've shared my various homes with both. Dogs are pack animals, they are attached to their family rather than place. Cats, on the other hand, are territorial. As the old phrase goes, dogs have owners - cats have servants. My first pet as a child (aside from the neighbor's dog) was a cat. My English mother wouldn't allow me a dog as we didn't have space for it to run (we lived on a quarter acre, but bordered on about 20 acres of woodland, but that wasn't enough for an English dog lover). I sneaked a kitten into the house (from a neighbor's litter) and we kept him. Over the years I've enjoyed the company of dogs and cats depending on my location. Here's to both!
OK, back to the real topic. My diatribe on flute shapes, and their effect on the end result of sharpening, was an attempt to visualize the differences. We can speak of the Ellsworth grind, or the Irish grind - or Glaser of traditional, but the actual shape of the cutting surface varies with both flute shape and sharpening. It is all shades of grey rather than a specific form. And that seems to be the consensus of this thread - find what you like and use a jig that can repeat it perfectly for your "go to" tools. The best steels are expensive and it is nice to remove as little steel as possible when sharpening. To that end I find my CBN wheels (180 with rounded edge, for my home made Ellsworth hollowing cutters and 80 for the reshaping, to be economical. I've had them for 3 or 4 years and they still are perfect - I've covered the initial price several times over by not having to replace stone wheels, and always getting the same radius.
I play with grinds, I buy Benjamin's Best tools from PSI when I want to experiment. A fine firm, I'm an hour from their home shop outside Philly. I have "bottom feeders" of my own grind, a Thompson 1/2 and a Thompson 5/8 (US measure) U flutes. But I did some testing on cheaper steel (actually old gouges too short for the Wolverine jig, but flattened to fit it). My "bottom feeders" are what is referred to as "traditional grind", but with the left/upper wing ground back a bit. The nice thing is that I can change my "go to's" from an 80 dg tip bevel to a 70 dg, or in between, with little loss of steel.
I agree with everyone, the best "grind" is the one you like best and can best use. But also there are times when you might prefer another grind, or an experiment. That is what those el cheapo gouges are for, they are test beds. I'm an Ellsworth grind fan for my "go to" bowl gouges, but I'm not against using a different flute shape with a secondary bevel (or different bevel) for a specific piece. And my "Ellsworth grind" isn't exactly as David does it, over time I've found my own modifications.
I confess to spending a few bucks for simplicity of duplication (and innovation). I am a devotee of Don Geiger's Vertical Solution (no longer sold, he has a cheaper version that uses distance settings instead). The Oneway V arm does the same, in combination with the Wolverine jig, but takes a bit more work to set up. I'll leave with a teaser. The grind is three dimensional and is a combination of different dimensions and angles that can produce the same result. The "center height" above the Vee, the extension of the tip from the jig, the angle of the leg of the jig, the distance of the Vee from the wheel. Sounds complicated, but it really isn't. I originally had the 60 dg. gauge from Don's original package (a half round metal rod ground to the angle). I discovered that by setting the Vee and the leg to one dimension and adjusting to the gauge for 60 dgs. I could get another shape by changing the leg angle.I was making 30 dg. bevel detail gouges off the 60 dg. gauge. A bit of thinking and I made a 45 dg. gauge, and a 30 dg. gauge to expand the range.
I am not one for strict rules, but I do like a strict duplication of a grind I've already made - it saves expensive steel. I'll say goodnight, as I'm full of Molson's Golden (my favorite) and it is early in the morning. I'll detail the ways to use a gauge and the angles to make any shape if asked.