Re: Meat carving knives
I don't think you can wear out a steel.
The carving set that came from my great grandfather is about 150 years old and has been used by 5 generations. The steel is just as good as a new one. The carving knife is Solingen steel (not stainless) and takes and keeps a keen edge very well.
As pointed out above, a steel does not sharpen a knife, it only "straightens" the edge. If the edge has been rounded (microscopically) or chipped, only abrasive stone can repair (resharpen) it. Using a very fine stone is usually called "honing".
Speaking of very sharp edges, when I was very small my dad shaved with a straight razor. He used a leather strop (sic) to "straighten" the edge and an Arkansas white stone that seemed to me as smooth as a baby's butt to hone it. I don't think it would have done well to slice meat, though it did occasionally slice Dad.8)
