Sharpening mistakes. We've all made them. A slip that causes an unsightly scratch on the side of a new knife or worse...one of your friend's knives. I've had my share of them. More often than not if things are really bad I end up refinishing the entire blade. I would be interested in hearing from some of the expert sharpeners here on what techniques they use to repair small scratches on blades or if anyone has any particular method of protecting the blade before a sharpening session. I'm sure Dave must have been a little intimidated when he started sharpening professionally and began receiving knives worth a huge chunk of change. Anyone have any tips to share?