Thread: What's in a picture?

No, the scratch pattern is bi-directional, Both perpendicular to the edge and at an angle. That is consistent with a combination of straight and cross strokes on the hone. There are only a couple significant scratch marks on the diagonal the group is to the left of the reference mark on the blade and they appear after using the German water hone. They do not exist in the SS 12K picture just prior.

I guess is it is time to take a good look at that hone and find out what is gouging out that metal!

2 things.
1. Polishing steel can reveal earlier scratches.
2. Using a slurry can result in large particles in the mix which may scratch the bevel.
Hard part is working out which is happening.

Actually, this is a pretty common "phenomenon" if you will from what I've read. The fine natural hones will leave a lot scratchier looking bevels, but the scratches are very shallow with a fine natural hone. If you change the angle of the lighting or camera they can disappear like magic. I have read some explanations for why synth stones always appear to leave a shinier surface that say the synth stone scratches are very narrow and (relative to a fine natural stone) deep, which causes stray light to basically reflect back out in a unidirectional way - all the scattered light gets "caught" in the groove. Thus they look shinier. The fine natural stones almost always leave wider, shallower scratches, so all the reflected light gets bounced back and scattered every which way.