So where does all of this leave the average knife user, someone like me, to pick a totally random user? Probably better to stay away from belt sanders and sharpen manually with some sort of jig or learn manual sharpening. But then it will be tricky to achieve consistent angles - to say nothing about achieving something as precise as 23 degrees (I probably come close to 23 , plus or minus five degrees or so).

I keep think of my grandfather's and father's ritual knife sharpening when about to process a bunch of fish (both very accomplished - they cut up a lot of finny critters) - a few strokes on a flat stone, using no name knives made from generic steel. Very soon a mess of fish were ready for cooking.

Does the type of steel really matter all that much for the average user? You hear occasionally that the heat treatment is just as important as the steel, if not more so...

It isn't all that hard to sharpen most knives - kind of relaxing, as a matter of fact, so why worry if a blade dulls after a bit of use?

I still have some of my grandfather's knives, mostly his butchering blades. They are well patinated, sharpen up serviceably, and still cut the mustard...
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Geezer in Chief