Like what difference does the cutting motion do compared to just pushing down a knife ?
In: Physics
Push cutting is a thing, but it requires a much finer edge, and is actually pretty a common test of high sharpness post-sharpening. Chisels and razors, for example, almost exclusively push cut, but they also require a much higher level of sharpening than a typical kitchen knife.
Whetstones leave grooves in the edge where each abrasive particle scrapes off a bit of metal. Finer stones have smaller particles and leave narrower grooves, but anything less than the finest polishing will still leave some level of serration behind at a microscopic scale.
Poorly maintained knives may not be sharp enough to push cut anymore (if they ever were), but the edge between these serrations is protected from that abuse, and will often cut just fine. “Sawing” exposes the food surface to more of these still-sharp troughs, and can improve the apparent cutting performance of such a blade.
tl;dr: sharpen your knives
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