Originally Posted by
JimmyHAD
Going back to scratch patterns as a gauge of when a razor is 'there.' When I first came around to SRP there was a group of guys that were always talking about how it was necessary to remove all of the previous scratches as you progressed through to higher, and higher, grits. About that time, I had begun learning to hone, and was buying ebay razors to practice on. At the same time I was buying razors from Lynn and some of the other experienced, and reputable, honers in the community.
Taking my trusty 40x eye loupe I quickly saw that Lynn and these other guys sent shave ready razors with visible, and varied, scratch patterns. So I saw that the 'removing all of the scratches from the previous stone' was not necessary for a shave ready edge, and I never pursued that method. Figuring that the purpose of honing, in my case, was to get a smooth and comfortable shave, not to admire how shiny the bevel sides might be. I'm not doubting that smoothness of the bevel could contribute to smoothness of the shave, but I never really pay any attention to scratch patterns per se. YMMV.