When a blade gets dull it's just that the very fine cutting edge has been bent a micro amount like a 45*-90* angle . And the very finest part of the edge can be curled over ?
Stroping grabs the micro edges and puts them back in alignment ?
Yes, in some cases an edge dulls as you describe but what I saw under a microscope my edges degraded for a multitude of reasons. Most common was the edge would actually round out much like you see with machine cutting tools. Sometimes I saw flat spots or areas which I suspect were from contact with hard surfaces, for example, after boning out a deer or elk my edge would have flat spots which I assume were caused by banging against a bone and sometimes hit rocks. I also saw micro chipping of the edge and at the extreme could feel the chips when sliding my finger edge down the edge but PLEASE don't do this and bleed like I did.
Your edge wear is going to depend on how you use your knife. Push a razor edge too hard and it may bend, use an edge long enough and it will wear round, bang it against something hard and it will flatten. Leave it sit unused and the edge will degrade with oxidation.
