In that case what do you recommend to a newbie who is keen but not skilled. Don't say hand sanding been there, done that with a couple, they turned out ok but not a great way to do it if you have arthritic hands.
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In that case what do you recommend to a newbie who is keen but not skilled. Don't say hand sanding been there, done that with a couple, they turned out ok but not a great way to do it if you have arthritic hands.
Make some holder for the wet n dry, way easier than to just hold it your hand.
I've used flexible diamond sheets for sanding blades, works great and they eat hard steel fast.
A recommendation isn't law... not even close. I have used a Dremel to work on blades, taking them through the full range of chuck-mounted abrasives for cleaning and polishing, and I was pleased with both the process and the results. I recommend a corded (rather than cordless) Dremel, and took advantage of the flexible shaft for ease-of-use. Also, I found a suction-clamp table-top vise to be invaluable -- used with a rare-earth magnet jig to hold the blade firmly, it allowed me to use both hands to grasp and steady the Dremel.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankD
"Keen" comes from the heart; "skilled" comes from practice.
Smooth shaving!
+1 x 10: I agree with JB completely! A Dremel is a valuable and affordable tool if you are a hobbyist....not so much for a "in the restoration business" professional. Although I am sure they use one as well for certain aspects of the job at hand. The 'Key' is to go slow and not be in a hurry. Patience and time are your best allies. Time is money for the person in business...for the hobbyist time is your currency as well, and spent wisely with the end result in mind will give you many rewards, not the least of which is a restored razor to be proud of!
"Uses promptos facit - Practice makes perfect"
IMHO .... WP34
Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHoren
Ditto. I'm a newbie and don't have a lot of equipment, but the dremel is working out just fine in the heel out mod I'm doing tonight, all the polish jobs on the blades and pins(be careful) that I've done so far.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHoren
Just go slow, really slow, monitor the temperatures of the metal and concertrate. Wouldn't wanna have collet on the dremel leave a nasty scrape on the side of the blade.
Cheers.
ps-important addendum(at least to me): Find a few vintage razors for a minimal amount of money and work on them. I'm really enjoying doing just that. I'm not too upset if I fubar the sub-$10 Frederick Reynolds doing the heel out mod to remove the crack. Dig? <face shield down>
I find my dremel clone to be super useful with a variety of wire brushes.
First thing I do with an old razor is to put some Mothers on and away I go.
The wire brush knocks off most of the crud and the Mothers polishes and
lets me see what needs to be done later. Having said that, even with the
flexi-shaft I don't think a dremel can replace fine hand-sanding.
A bit of garden hose or even car radiator hose pipe is good to wrap
your paper around. Helps my arthritic hands last longer !!
Attachment 143033
I don't use my dremel much. I use the flex shaft and have a variable speed foot pedal. I do a lot of hand sanding there is a thread on a restoration by souschefdude where he uses a cork and double sided tape and wet dry and then puts it in his bench mounted drill. Check his thread http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...lm-member.html
I haven't gotten to doing something along these lines but will be. I also have a drill mounted buffing wheel on my drill in the vise. It's not as good as a buffer but a lot cheaper. I haven't had much time to use it as it is a recent acquisition. The wet dry around a cork is awesome for hand sanding, and I've done a lot of that. Slow and steady is my method, keep the dremel speed low and the pressure low and you will generate less heat. I'm not a fan of the sanding wheels for the dremel though, but if you used souschefdudes cork idea...
+1 on the variable-speed foot pedal.
Just lay the blace really flat when working ong it. And be willing to know you will screw up a blade every now and again. I use on with a flex shaft for restorations..
I use the dremmel with the wire brush or really fine grind wheel for bad spots. Do not run it on high speed and do not over heat the blade. Light touches work fine. The buffing wheel comes in handy also. Mostly though I hand sand using a wine cork and wrap the fine sand paper around the cork. Do not put too much pressure on the side of the blade or you may end up cracking it. Good luck,
DON'T USE IT !!!! YOU'LL BE SORRY !!!!!! Wear a face shield if you must...hate to see you in the cut of the day thread with a piece of blade in your eye....
Always do Sir. Safety first.
Attachment 143054
I've done plenty of restorations with a Dremel, even sanded right thru a blade once.
I don't use one now as there are better ways for me. YMMV.
If you want to go to the trouble & outlay a grinder & greaseless compounds are hard to beat.
Do you mean a bench grinder or a hand held?
Check out my restore of a wostenholm for a member thread where use acork as a drum sander.
Yes I was referring to a bench grinder using small wheels but I was serious about having used a dremel. I stopped when I was unable to get the flapsanders in my preferred size.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankD
Firstly, there is no 'rule' against using a dremel. It's more of a guideline :)
And especially if you have arthritis in your hands, handsanding is not a desirable option. The things with dremels, and the reason we discourage them for newbies, is that it is very easy to destroy a blade by taking away too much metal in 1 place, or to ruin the temper, or to just break a piece off the blade.
In your case it is probably the best option though. In which case I would advise you to use one of those flexible shaft attachments which give you more freedom of movement. And work with flap wheels, brush wheels and those things that look like a piece of sponge coated with abrasive powder. Stay away from disc and drum attachments because you have a high chance of sanding divots in the metal.
If you are willing to spend some more money, you could look into a buffer and greaseless compounds, emery compound and polishing compounds. I ordered my polishing wheels for very little here: Free Shipping !! 4" X50 white Muslin buffing wheels ,Muslin Soft Polishing buffing wheels , Jewelry polishing tools-in Special Store from Jewelry on Aliexpress.com. I know my buffer is from China as well, but I bought it locally for 39 euros. Greaseless compounds are pretty hard to come by in Europe, but easy enough in America (Formax is a good brand).
I use a Flex shaft Dremmel clone to sand and polish my razors if they need that much. You have to always be conscious of the wheel spin direction or you will be sorry. I have flap wheels to 180 grit but then that has to be hand sanded to a finer grit. I mostly hand sand now but I do use the rotary for polishing everything. My problem is space and I don't restore THAT many razors.
These help but not sure they would work for you.
Attachment 143138
I wish I could find the receipt to know where to get another one but I have this little rare earth embedded thing that I use to hold the blade tightly when I hand sand. It may have been from Bill Ellis? That thing is great and holds anything up to about a 1" blade without any edge hanging over. Ingenious device! Bad photo below (included my favorite goddess as well just because). If anyone knows who made this please let us all know.
Attachment 143646
