Thread: help with my first restore needed

so i paid 8 bucks for a ja henckels and the handle and rear of the razor is in great shape but the top and front are heavily rusted so its gonna be a challenge and might not make it.... however it was cheap and this is my first restore.... this being said it is still a henckels so i want it to come out in the end if possible since its high end. my issue is i couldnt exactly find all the sandpaper i needed so i want to know if this progression of paper will work and if not what i need or should and shouldnt use for what i have, i have 60 100 150 220 500 1000 and 1200 what should i use and in what order from fist to last? thanks any help appreciated-john

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.

it broke on the end where the heavy rust was at i figured it would damn....

I've f'd up a few blades. One by being fumble fingers. Blue diamond 5/8 in pretty mint condition that I dropped on a concrete floor, it shattered like glass. The other was a beautiful Kropp 7/8 in very nice shape except for a rust tang that I managed to crack the blade on through great personal stupidity. I'm sure that is not my last or yours. Take your lumps and move on.