I hope this is a simple question for this audience.

I have one of those 12” knife steels in the kitchen. It has a roughish surface and I think probably does more damage than good.

I was remembering the other day a steel that my Dad had ( no idea what ever happened to it). At one point in his working life he found himself sharing rotations with other veterinarians in his circle doing inspections in local packing plants. i am told that one of the butchers took his steel away from him one day, cut it down to an appropriate length, polished it smooth then hung it over a vinegar bath for a few days to give it just the right amount of “bite”. Many years later it was still pretty much perfect.

So I started thinking that I should do something similar and polish my steel smooth- this is where I run into the first roadblock … any suggestions to polish a nice smooth surface on a round knife steel ??