how to avoid scratch blade while honing
Hey, does anyone have any advice on how to avoid scratching the blade while honing? Of course there are always some on the spine, but those are relatively easy to polish off, and can be prevented with tape if you care enough. But what I've been having a problem with are little (say, .5cm) scratches starting at the edge and running perpendicular to the edge up the blade face. I particularly have this problem on the DMT hones, which I sometimes use as bevel-setters. Id ont have the problem so much on my other hones - belgian and japanese naturals - but sometimes. What's wierd, though, is I thought that the blade face doesnt actually contact the hone anyway (except on a full wedge, of course), so I just dont see how it happens.
The DMT-caused scratches really have me stumped - I have tried to go very carefully and still end up getting 1 or 2 - and they can be fairly deep, and a pain-in-the-ass to get out, often requiring significant sanding. Sometimes, though, they are light and polish off easily. The ones on the naturals I think, might be caused by swarf/steel in the slurry, i.e. my not rinsing often enough.
Any help would be much appreciated.