"does steel wool sharpen pins and needles"

Google this and you will see all the uses for steel wool regarding needles, sharpening and sewing! Pretty interesting reading. One thing I learned is there are a couple different grades of steel wool. It is recommended to use the finest grade. I do use it and it seems to work just fine.
I have never had rust happen. Rosie

You can get brass wool if rusting is a concern. I spill enough coffee that it's a legit issue. :)

The pin cushion I used have, the large strawberry ones, they always had a little strawberry attached to it. The small one was for cleaning needles. Maybe they were stuffed with steel wool, I never knew what was inside them but steel wool could be what it was.

I never heard that before! I usually stuff my pincushion with fabric scraps, plastic beads, or crushed walnuts to add weight to the pincushion. Currently finishing my third pincushion in the series that I've joined last January. It's a series of pincushions for the whole year. They release a new pattern every month. You might want to check it out: https://www.feliciasworld.com/blog/quilt-12-collectable-pincushion-patterns-in-2021/

I have those strawberry things also and I never opened one up. One of these days I will just out of curiosity!!!!! Rosie

I think the strawberry things are filled with emery. Paragraph five of the attached article explains what *should* be in there and why.

https://www.needlenthread.com/2011/02/following-up-needles-emery.html

Since I lose needles pretty regularly, the filling of my pincushion is sawdust, and there's a zipper at the bottom so I can empty it out, pick out my needles, and refill it. I'm lazy that way.