miket - i generally clean only and with a buffer. first black emory on a firm wheel and then white on a soft wheel. i like to shoot for a soft reflection, not mirror. mirror drives me a little crazy when i see vivid fingerprints etc. =P
shd - i hear ya. once i saw the blade etch still mostly intact on this old sheffield i just had to match it with some streaked horn. knowing that it adds roughly another hour or two just to cut, thin, straighten and buff the inside scales to get it to the normal starting point.
happy with the result though.
happy new year yall!