My pop explained to me what makes a good knife is all about how well it holds an edge. I used to watch older fellows chat with one another while sharpening a knife. Some used a swipe/flip/swipe/flip method while others rotated their blade.
He said "son go back in my room and grab that sharpening stone". An almost brick sized block with a smooth side and a course side. It was his grandfathers. He then commenced to swipe/flip sharpening his little 3 blade German made number that was also his grandfathers. It had been sharpened so many times there was a C shape missing from the blade.
He rubbed and rubbed the blade against the smooth side of the block as he explained why. I pulled out my little lock back and asked was that one any good. He explained to me why it would not hold an edge well. Partly because of the metal the blade was made of and partly because I was sharpening the blade too steep.
Before I left that day I had changed the edge of my cheap knife from really blunt to fairly thin about 1/3 up the blade itself. He gave me that sharpening stone that day. And at times I'll use it for a few minutes to add a crisp edge to a daily that just needs a touch up for a task, using a swipe/flip motion for a few minutes but other times I'll rub, rub, rub to remove metal up the blade then swipe/flip to "dial in" my new edge.
Sure I can go to Wall Mart or Home Depot and buy a razor sharp number, but to me there's an art form to taking a fairly dull surgical steel blade and turning it into an almost scapple-like tool, even if it takes me several hours to do it.
When my pop passed away I gave his knife to my older brother who then gave it to his son. My daily is a plastic body US made Gerber old school lock back that serves me well, as long as I sharpen it from time to time.