Quote Originally Posted by thebigspendur View Post
Personally, I don't think scratch patterns have much to do with shaveability. They will depend on the finishing media and the type of strokes used and the razor metal too. You can polish an edge to mirror shine and it may not shave worth a continental.
I on the other hand believe they may well be an indicator that the edge might not be ok.
Unless one honed with a micro bevel, those scratches will go all the way out to the very edge.
So I would say it's the other way round, if it got no scratches and the bevel is mirror smooth, that doesn't say the edge is good.
But, if the bevel has scratches I would be surprised if the edge were perfect!