Thread: Scuff Marks When Honing

Hello all,

I'm a long-time reader, but first-time poster here, now looking for some advice.

I have been shaving with a straight razor for about a year now, and finally decided to have a go at restoring one. I bought an old Sheffield Steel hollow-ground from eBay for £5, removed the scales and polished the blade using wet-and-dry and Peek to a nice mirror shine. I put some new Redwood scales on the blade, and it looked really good.

I then started to hone it. The bevel was out so I took it to my 1000 grit whetstone to start honing/resetting the bevel. After a few strokes it left me with huge scuff marks across the blade (I've attached a pic). Any idea what caused this? I'm assuming the blade was out of shape slightly, as the whetstone was lapped properly, so completely flat. I didn't tape the spine, as I'm not too bothered by a bit of honing wear on the spine.

I carried on anyway, and have started to get an edge on it. Will finish off tomorrow on my 3K, 5K and 8K.

Does anyone know if these marks will sand out? I don't mind sanding it again and repolishing.

Kindest regards,

Mark