Just so that we are clear up front, There are not dumb questions. Well, maybe there are, but I rarely see them if they are. I have certainly asked questions that make me feel dumb.... But, I often find that when I ask a 'dumb' question, many others say "hey, I wanted to know that too." I failed to ask a dumb question once and received a flying piece of plywood in the gut as a reward for being dumb enough not to ask.
I would use the term "hollow grind" and you are correct, it would NOT leave a flat bevel. The part that must be flat is the back. You cannot flatten the back on a grinding wheel of which I am aware. I prefer water stones for this, or, diamond plates if things are really bad. I am working on some chisels that are in really bad shape, so, I will use a bench grinder to grind back the edge to get past the "bad parts".
The biggest danger with a standard bench grinder is that you might over-heat the edge and remove the temper (bad, very bad idea). I have a slow speed bench grinder, which can still easily over-heat the blade.
The nice thing about the hollow grind on the bevel is that it makes it easier to hand sharpen without a guide. These sharpenings are then faster because you do not need to work on the entire bevel. I suspect that people that do not hollow grind usually use a micro bevel (do you know this term?).
Too bad you don't live closer, I would say grab them all and bring them over and we can have a sharpening party. So, the real question is.... Where do you want to start? Do you want to start with:
- Water stones
- oil Stones
- Arkansas Stones (is that the correct term)
- Sand Paper
- Diamond Plates
- Diamond paste on some medium (MDF, a plate, hard wood)
I assume that with the primary bevel being generally set already, you do not need to use the bench grinder on it at all.
The process is the same for all of them. Flatten the back first, then work on the bevel.