Thread: clean out an old blade with deep black stains is it possible?

It is way too hard to get enough control with a dremel to be able to use it for metal removal. Hand sanding is likely your only option.

Originally Posted by RezDog

It is way too hard to get enough control with a dremel to be able to use it for metal removal. Hand sanding is likely your only option.

Agree entirely. OP - take a look at the 'how to' section at the top of the workshop thread page and look for advice on hand sanding tools - it will be easier than using just fingers and abrasive paper.

well gonna take a look of that. do you have a link for me?

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

For hand sanding, here is the Mercedes of jigs, a riff on a Bill Ellis jig done by the Madman of Philly himself (also a toolmaker). See post #6
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...razor-jig.html
A tip on rare earth magnets: even metal close to the magnet will be magnetized. Care must be taken where you store the jig.

When the dark spots are extremely deep then then that's devil spit. More than likely no matter how long you sand it'll still be there. if it's not in the cutting edge I would go so deep with wet dry sand paper and then polish. how deep would be up to you. I have had some great shavers that had a spot or two in the blade but still looked very good. I've even had a couple reground by a real pro. that's where I got my info. on the dreaded devils spit. The razors looked great and shaved good but the 2 or 3 spots where still there and would be if you rubbed a hole in the blade.

Originally Posted by Oustoura

exactly. i want to do some sort of grinding to remove pits on the metal but do this with a dremel?

so i was just wondering to use a dremel to remove some of the metal surface and make it plate than polish. the problem is dremel doesn't have any head gadget to do it from start to finish (i know they have some abrasive wheels but those are too heavy and only 40 or 80 grit not further, that doesn't let me to continue for have a fine polish)

One of the problems of using a dremel is inconsistent polishing lines left in the finished work. This isn't something that cannot be avoided, but you have to gain experience to know what you're doing. Always run the dremel, if that is what you're going to use, so the wheel spins away from the edge. If you catch the edge with the wheel spinning against it chances are big that you'll take a piece out of the blade.

As noted, hand sanding is the best way to begin. A friend of mine told me he averaged ten hours of hand sanding on a blade such as yours. I don't have the patience or ambition for such work so I cannot speak from experience.

Also, those other blades you mentioned, if they are wedges you have plenty of material to work with. If they are full hollows they are thinner than a piece of copy paper. So be aware that you can only go so far.