Thread: My first razor project on my W&B-to sand or not to sand?

My razor arrived yesterday. I unpinned and cleaned and polished the scales. I cleaned the lead wedge. On the blade, I removed the surface rust with a dremel and felt polishing pad with 1500, 5000, and 12000 grit compounds. I hand polished with mothers then rubbed with oil.

My question about the scales is: should the neatsfoot oil treatment be rubbed on and off, or do I let them set with a good coating for a while?

My question about the blade is: To the naked eye it looks nice not mirror though. I did not use sandpaper for fear of ruining the etching. But under the scope you can see how porous the surface is. So should I try to go further or would you leave well enough alone.

This is the original condition:


This is my progress and you can see the surface under the scope: