What we do in the meat packing plant is work the steel down with the grit of emery cloth that puts the surface back to the roughness that works for us. It is best to work the steel in one direction, as this keeps the magnetism/polarity in the steel. I carry a rough steel but use a pretty smooth one most of the time. The rough steel is for bringing the edge back if it starts to play out or if it hits a tooth or my node hook or something else that is hard. I have seen steels worn down so thin and pointed they were dangerous and the owners were made to quit using them, but that takes a lot of use and repeated sanding. The Dexter-Russell steel is chrome plated and after sanding it you should use an edible grease coating to keep it from rusting/pitting and also dry it after using it.
