Originally Posted by
Euclid440
You are just going to lay on a satin finish. I cut the paper into a 3x3 inch strip, align one edge of the paper with the edge of a synthetic cork.
With the razor on the bench so that the edge is facing you, put the paper wrapped cork on the belly at the bottom edge of the spine and so the edge of the cork is in the corner where the belly of the blade meets the stabilizer. Then pull the cork straight down and rotate the cork slowly towards the spine, so that when you reach the edge you have rotated about a ¼ turn.
This will cause fresh new paper to cut as you make the pull, this works with 600 grit also. You should only need 2-3 pulls with lite to medium pressure, if you are working on a buffed surface.
Now slide the cork to the other side of the paper so you are on new paper and hang the edge of the cork off the toe about 1/8 – ¼ inch and do another set of pulls to finish the other half of the blade. You can turn the paper 90 degrees and get 2 more new surfaces if needed.
As Mike said Crocus does last a long time and can polish to near mirror, which is why machinist use it for polishing bearing surfaces.
If you use it after 600 or 1k it will easily polish to a mirror with a good metal polish, (3m Marine is my favorite since Mike turned us on to it a while back, and a tub last forever) and paper towel, the rougher the towel the better, I like the blue shop towels or paper hand towels sold in stackable folded sheets as used in public restrooms. They are cheap and polish well. I invested in a wall hanging dispenser. Or buff with Black Magic or Green Chrome greased compound and a spiral sewn or loose wheel.