>> ... and nothing >> but a steel has touched the edge since.  I cook
a lot, and I've probably used it three times a week (I have two others) 
since then.

> I think this implies that normal knife wear is a process of 
> deformation,
> not abrasion, and that the use of a steel reverses the deformation.

It may speak a bit to the process of deformation hypothesis, but 
sharpening steels
also have abrasive properties, so in using one, there is a bit of stock
removal along with correction of deformation.

Mike in Sacto