Funny you say that- for "fun" I took out one our cheap kitchen knives, ran it over the sharpening steel, and achieved the same results on the tomato as I did with the razor! Should not be possible if it only "works" with a razor bevel. I believe you are correct about the "jaggies".
The bevel set is still the hardest part for me- seems like no rhyme or reason why sometimes I nail it and sometimes not.