[masraum]

steels aren't actually a "knife sharpener"

As I've heard it described, when you sharpen a knife, you create a point. As you use a knife, the point gets bent/curled over. A steel or strop is to take that edge and straighten it back out. I believe it also makes it rough, so it then becomes somewhat serrated (which helps when cutting with a duller blade).

Once the blade is dull so that the edge is just completely worn down, the steeling probably isn't going to do much for the effectiveness of the blade other than maybe increasing the serrations which may help some (turned the blade from a knife into a saw).



If any of you want to geek out a bit including photos of edges using a microscope in various states and after various treatments...
https://scienceofsharp.com/home/