Wow, there's a whole lot of mental masturbation by self-proclaimed internet experts over the use of a word.
But hey, I'll play along. So, if I rub my knife against this "honing steel" an infinite number of times, my knife will not have any metal removed? Yeah, sure. Now, stop fighting over whose wanker is smaller. You're both tiny.
Sir-whackenheimerIt's not about whether metal is removed or not. It's about being a sufficient tool to "sharpen" a knife, which a honing steel wont do. You can't get a completely even stroke each time, you can't feel for a burr, you can't tell which grit you are working with... it just doesn't make sense to call it a sharpening steel when that's not what it is.
But hey, I'll play along. So, if I rub my knife against this "honing steel" an infinite number of times, my knife will not have any metal removed? Yeah, sure. Now, stop fighting over whose wanker is smaller. You're both tiny.