I've always just done the cutting at the beginning of the meal then set the knife to the side. All of the etiquette patterns I've heard about seem wrong to me compared to just cut first and then put the knife down.

I was taught that’s old American from before knives were cheap. Originally you’d pass the knife.

Strange that the wiki implies you set the knife down after each cut.

Some people do that but it’s probably not the norm in general.