Thread: First hone flattening

If it's any help, in the UK I find best place to get w&d is car part shops. At least in my area the fit chains have killed all the smaller guys who stocked anything that was slightly different to what they decide people want to buy.

Never heard of burnishing a stone but this stone has two sides so it won't hurt to experiment.

What kinds of oil are suitable?

Thanks for the tip on wet and dry. I got my last set of wet and dry from Wilkinsons. Clas Olson also has a decent selection but was over £1 per sheet when I checked the other week.

I forgot Wilkinson do the lower grit stuff. I do a lot of hand sanding for restorations and Wilkinson don't go high enough. I also find better quality stuff does not curl so much, 3m is pricey but you do get what you pay for with it.

Originally Posted by monkeypuzzlebeefeater

I forgot Wilkinson do the lower grit stuff. I do a lot of hand sanding for restorations and Wilkinson don't go high enough. I also find better quality stuff does not curl so much, 3m is pricey but you do get what you pay for with it.

My razors are in need of TLC. I've been meaning to get into cleaning them up but the restoration forum seems a bit lean on information about cleaning that doesn't involve machines.

I'd love to get into hand sanding. Any tips on where to start?

Originally Posted by Elcs

I'd love to get into hand sanding. Any tips on where to start?

There is plenty of advice on the forum but in the library there is a useful guide
Hand sanding a blade - Straight Razor Place Library

From experience I would say the best thing to do before undertaking any restoration is make sure restoration is what is actually needed. It's very easy to read a few guides or posts and fall into the trap of assuming knowledge (I know from bitter experience!) Firstly I assess what is actually needed, if there is rust is it brighter red meaning is still active or is it darker? If still active it needs to be stopped. Try gently scrapping with thumb nail, this might be all it needs. If not then a spray oil on a cloth is good, being a cyclist I use gt85 but something like wd40 is good. Remember oiled razors as slippery! If the rust is the darker kind that is not active then removing metal is the only option, this type of rust leaves a black staining (devils spit we call it) this way often leaves pitting underneath. Start b with a low grit wet and dry, I use 320, remove all the damage. Take your time. Go slow. Don't try to hurry onto higher grits, get rid of all the damage before progressing. I then go through each grit progression up to about 2400 when I switch to a polish, like t-cut metal polish.

This really is only my take on the very basic though. Probably the best approach would be to post pics of any razors that you want to work on, explain what tools you have available and take time to really review all the advice offered.

Hope this is of some help, feel free to pm me if you want me to elaborate on any points.

Originally Posted by monkeypuzzlebeefeater

There is plenty of advice on the forum but in the library there is a useful guide
Hand sanding a blade - Straight Razor Place Library

From experience I would say the best thing to do before undertaking any restoration is make sure restoration is what is actually needed. It's very easy to read a few guides or posts and fall into the trap of assuming knowledge (I know from bitter experience!) Firstly I assess what is actually needed, if there is rust is it brighter red meaning is still active or is it darker? If still active it needs to be stopped. Try gently scrapping with thumb nail, this might be all it needs. If not then a spray oil on a cloth is good, being a cyclist I use gt85 but something like wd40 is good. Remember oiled razors as slippery! If the rust is the darker kind that is not active then removing metal is the only option, this type of rust leaves a black staining (devils spit we call it) this way often leaves pitting underneath. Start b with a low grit wet and dry, I use 320, remove all the damage. Take your time. Go slow. Don't try to hurry onto higher grits, get rid of all the damage before progressing. I then go through each grit progression up to about 2400 when I switch to a polish, like t-cut metal polish.

This really is only my take on the very basic though. Probably the best approach would be to post pics of any razors that you want to work on, explain what tools you have available and take time to really review all the advice offered.

Hope this is of some help, feel free to pm me if you want me to elaborate on any points.

My blades, straights and kamisori, are all of the black kind of rust. I'll give it a WD-40 first just to see where that gets me then I'll assault it with the 400 W&D I have here until I grab some other stuff to work on it.

Found this set of wet and dry, 10 sheets taking me from 240 to 600, 1000, 1500 and up to 2000 for just over £6. At 60p a sheet it's not that cheap but it seems like a reasonable deal and has pretty much everything I need in one package as I've still got something like 6 sheets of 400 grit.

Time to sand my life away

Originally Posted by Elcs

Time to sand my life away

It gets addictive.

Got a selection of 240/600/1000/1500/2000 grit wet and dry from Amazon. Cost me £6.33 for 10 sheets (2 of each) which I didn't think was bad.

Started work on the Eye Witness but heck it's slow going at 240 grit. Got to be in it for the long haul.

I also flattened the smooth side of my Chinese hone, did the 240, 400, 600 and finished off with 1k. Probably took me 2 or 2 1/2 hours to do. I haven't burnished it yet as I am not sure I have found a suitable item to run over it so far. To my fingers it felt smoother after it's 240 grit run than it had done prior to today and now, 1k grit finish feels great.... if it wasn't sacrilege I'd dull my Azuma kamisori and re-hone, finishing on this stone.

Considering the change in the stone by looks and feel, I'm almost tempted to do the same to my Norton 4k/8k :P

Image below: