in the daily meal prep., you will be slicing chicken, onions, or tomatoes on a cutting board. these daily tasks get you pushing your knife steel edge out of line. This can cause one side to fold over instead of standing straight, resulting in a bent knife's edge. Even if it appears hard and solid, the knife steel still can be bent, particularly the knife edge. The primary purpose of honing a knife is to restore a misaligned edge. This is just preserving an existing sharp edge. When you hone a sharp knife's blade, you polish the uneven surface of the edge. this will decrease friction and help the knife to cut more effectively.