Either way, it is still a lot of work. But making wheels does take it easier on the fingers. I was halfway through stripping rust from a really pitted old razor which still had a nice edge before i realised that you could make the wheels and save the hand work. I was using a very low grit, and I still haven't managed to remove all the deep marks they left by using the wheels, but i will attack it again when I get back to the UK in June.
I wish I had only used 400 grit and above because it would probably have been finished now if the 180 grit hadn't scratched it to pieces
Nick