Thread: polishing straight razors

Using eastwood greaseless polishing compounds on a buffer.The grits are 80,120,220,320 still having problems with getting pitts,off of blades.Is anything out there better for polishing straight razors.

Not really unless you switch to a belt

There is a balancing act that plays out during a restore, and sometimes the damage wins and you have to give up, not every old rusted hunk o junk is going to come back to life

Keep in mind that you only see the pretty pictures of the success stories on the forums, you don't see the pics of the other multiple razors that became "Just Shavers" or the ones that had pitting so bad that it killed the razor...

I mostly hand sand. I am still slowly learning to use my buffing wheels a little here and a little there. I like the control of hand sanding, but it takes time. I also struggle with leave it or keep sanding. I think it helps to put them away and pick them up later. I am by no means making any real production. I have two blade that I have been tinkering with for over a year, I'm not sure if they are done or not. Which of course is a luxury only a novice hobbyist can have. Take your time and contemplate it as much as you can. It take a lot of practice to be fast!

If you are going to completely remove pits, do so with low grits, either with compounds or by hand, with paper.
Really, the decision should be made before you begin. As Glen said, not all are destine to be saved as, beauty queens. And the best time to make that decision… is at purchase.

I spent a summer of my youth working for a professional house painter. In teaching me to paint, he said 98 percent of painting, is the preparation, the paint is only 2 percent.

I have found in Automotive finishes and razor restoration, this is especially true. The finish is only as good as the preparation and what you begin with.

While I'm still in the 'playing' stage of using my variable speed buffer, here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...-part-one.html

I'm finding that there's nothing wrong with a little 'heritage' showing.

This is an example that Glen did for me. As you will read, the only way that all of the pitting could have been removed was by regrinding the razor (or using a belt as Glen said in his post at the start of this thread). I'm sure glad that he didn't.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...ered-horn.html

I've always done my work by hand and I consider my buffer another 'tool/option'. Perhaps I'll continue to 'clean razors up' and leave the restorations to those that have the talent to really make them come back alive. With that said, every razor that I've cleaned up I was proud to send back to the owner.

Originally Posted by semperfi6141

Using eastwood greaseless polishing compounds on a buffer.The grits are 80,120,220,320 still having problems with getting pitts,off of blades.Is anything out there better for polishing straight razors.

yep,not all are beauty queens,i guess why I get burned out.Are you saying using a belt sander would do faster work?At this time I have two buffers variable speed lowest is 1700 rpms which I use and another buffer @ 3540 rpms plus a dremel tool.From what I have seen belt sanders are very expensive at least the ones I have seen.When the pitts get to a point where they are too deep nothing else to do ----that's it
Have some excellent shavers some pitted and some do not look of high quality and turn out to be excellent shavers.i have around 52 razors and have learned a lot working on them.German and English razors are my favorite ones,wife told me that's enough razors or else start paying my dog rent for his cabin.