I have butcher knives over 100 years old, the handles are beat to chit, the blades were sent to professional 'grinders' that take the angle way back and it's not pretty, those blades are still good and would last another 100 years. They grind the blades back to keep the blade so they can steel over and over again and only send them in for grinding each year.
Anytime you use any 'sharpener' you take metal off, it's physics. You don't need to reangle or cut the relief back as soon as the knife starts getting dull... steel it back straight, I mean you could use a super smooth stone and straighten it back without taking metal off, but a steel is easier for the same thing, as is a strop.
But most start with a coarse stone, taking off metal, then work to a smooth every time, so what's the difference?
Steel,steel,steel,steel... learn that, cut your relief angle anyway you want when it gets 'blunt', steel in between will save your blade.
I only have working knives and will never wear one out, though I've seen guys that use their knives only a few times, but sharpen them down to nubs with stones.
Kent
