well presuming by the no pictures that it is a worthy restore. I often start with deciding to start with the scales on or off. Iff they are badly damaged they will be of no help keeping a grip on the blade so in those cases I dith the scales right away. I cut my sand paper into strips and wrap them around a cork and start progressing through the grits. Rarely would I dip below 220 grit. I use an 8X visor to make sure that I get all the pitting and fly specs off. Sometimes it will look good and I will go up a grit or two and a fly spec may show back up, and which point drop down and then come back up. I always go to 1500 because that is what I can get for paper locally. On the horizon I will be picking up a buffer to finish the polish on all the razors I've taken that far. Even with the high grit 2 and 3000 paper when I can get it it still isn't up to what I want, hence the buffer. If I use a dremel it is only to clean the jimps. The jump from 220 to 500 is a very big jump and it will take a long time to get the scratch pattern to cover. Many little steps is always better. The cork is a very good option. At some point most scales come off because there is usually that little bit under and near the scales that are otherwise impossible. Good luck.