Tired of easy polishing

hi guys,

i recently had some old blades (razor blades) to restore them. they are waiting now for a long time. the problem is i don't want to start without a decision how to clean them as new.

here the facts about blades; they have black marks, nothing unsual. i can handle this.

but there are also some deepper stains after cleaned up the rust which i don't know really how to go on. there is advanced handsanding thread, i read it, and also give a try but really it doesn't work if i had a polishing machine (big wheels and a powerfull motor).

i've for now only a dremel, with some sanding wheels (i don't like to use to on blade, it leaves blank marks), and cloath and whool wheels.


so i'm looking for a result like this;

Attachment 240589Attachment 240590


so i know there are some greaseless pastes but do you think i can use them with a dremel?

also to have a clean finishing, did you ever thought to go further then "3 (power level)" ?

Pics of your blades? I've had disastrous results with power tools of late so I can recomend hand sanding 100%. It is time consuming and hard on the fingers but that's the safest way to get the results you'll be happy with. Spend the most time on the lowest grits. Make sure you are happy with it removing everything from pits to stains then move on.
The problem with power tools is things go bad in a hurry. There is no way of putting metal back on. The other problem is wheel diameter, Imo unless you have the right wheel diameter for your razor the results can be blotchy.
As a direct answer to your question. Yes, there are polishing pastes out there that might be enough. Yes, they will work with a dremmel. I don't think there are many here who will recommend it. I'm sure you'll get responses from the pros soon, but that's my two cents worth.

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You know even in the hands of pros, still the hand work will pay off in the end, too many new guys just remove too much steel, round the crisp edges off, take the et hing down, etc. etc. it doesn't take that long, Tc

Most any defect on the blade can be removed by hand sanding, but will take some work and the proper grites. What grits are you using.

Even then, sometimes you have to decide if you want to leave some pitting or remove too much metal.

Greaseless polishing is an alternative, but is aggressive,can be dangerous and will require a bench buffer. I have tried it with a Dremel and have not had good results, as the wheel contact area is too small and can make for a wavy blade.

Some photos of the problem areas of you blade and a change in hand sanding techniques might be a better and safer.

I have a bench buffer. It sees very little use. I do all the heavy work by hand with sandpaper and a hard backer. Most of the time my backer of choice is wine corks. I also use WD-40 to keep the scratch patterns a little more shallow and even. I rarely go below 600 paper and often spend a lot of time at 1000. I have used the Dremel with polish and greaseless compound and have to say it has it's applications, but sees very little use. I always try to preserve the lines of the razor as well as I can and the greatest control is with careful hand sanding.

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Originally Posted by Clayglen

Pics of your blades?

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no they are not mines but of a friend.

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Originally Posted by Euclid440

Most any defect on the blade can be removed by hand sanding, but will take some work and the proper grites. What grits are you using.

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while handsanding, i start from 400 if it goes well, i continue untill 2000 then dremel. otherwise, i if there is too much rust or deep marks i go back 240, 180 (at least) then come back untill 2000. but here is the problem, when there is deep marks on the blade, even with advanced handsanding methods don't work.

i tried to find some of my works to give an exemple but the are deleted due a problem with my old pc.

Greaseless and a buffer will remove steel much quicker, but that is the problem, in un-skilled hands, (and there is a big learning curve) that can quickly remove detail.

If you do decide to experiment with greaseless, practice on a beater to learn just how fast metal will be removed. A Greaseless buffer is truly a double edge sword.

Restoration, begins at purchase.

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Originally Posted by Oustoura

no they are not mines but of a friend.



while handsanding, i start from 400 if it goes well, i continue untill 2000 then dremel. otherwise, i if there is too much rust or deep marks i go back 240, 180 (at least) then come back untill 2000. but here is the problem, when there is deep marks on the blade, even with advanced handsanding methods don't work.

i tried to find some of my works to give an exemple but the are deleted due a problem with my old pc.

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Deep pitting can be removed , most of the time, with a buffer. Sometimes pitting will be left behind, because you would not want to round the lines off.
Basically the razor tells you how much you can remove and that is it, sometimes we have to live with imperfections. Heavier grinds can be reground with a grinder but that is a big investment and requires a lot of skill to produce good results.

I doubt greaseless on a dremel will be efficient. It will work, but you're going to have to re-apply it an awful lot of times I think.

A carded buffing head mounted in a drill press or even a drill can make a quick cheap alternative to a buffer.

I have used wheels on a drill press, but it is very awkward and dangerous because of how you have to hold the razor and the interference of the chuck.

It can be done, but a dedicated buffer is probably the safer, with lots of clearance, that you can hold the razor with both hands and it gives you a good view or the buffing surface while buffing.

It is still dangerous but all the other caveats apply. I still do both. Though lately, I do more hand sanding and use the buffer with 600 and greased compounds to finish.

The best advice, is live with some defects and buy better razors.

I find that sanding by hand gives the finest results. Time and attention to detail pays off in the end. It might sound weird but many days and hours spent carefully working on a blade forms a connection for me to the razor itself and to the craftsmen who originally made it. Only after I have achieved a good result by hand will I sometimes polish using something with a cord, depending on the finish I am looking for. This might be useful Hand sanding a blade - Straight Razor Place Library Good luck, enjoy the process, don't rush it.

Hand sanding works the best and is the slowest safest method.
I know the fingers and hand gets tired....... Use some "helper tools" to ease the strain on your hand and fingers.
Sometimes the dremel works good....... BUT....you need to be careful when using it!
Same goes for buffer wheels...... High speeds = high heat....
Lots of posts on all of these methods.

Meguiar's makes a metal polish in a heavy and medium cut. I have not used it much, but it does seem to work. Just not quite as they say.

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Originally Posted by Euclid440

I have used wheels on a drill press, but it is very awkward and dangerous because of how you have to hold the razor and the interference of the chuck.

It can be done, but a dedicated buffer is probably the safer, with lots of clearance, that you can hold the razor with both hands and it gives you a good view or the buffing surface while buffing.

It is still dangerous but all the other caveats apply. I still do both. Though lately, I do more hand sanding and use the buffer with 600 and greased compounds to finish.

The best advice, is live with some defects and buy better razors.

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Yes I thought to use a driller too but as it's said here, to handle the driller and the blade is quite hard to do at the same time.

Actually I just want to start with quicker way and planning to have a buffer machine and to convert it with using with cloath wheels.

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Originally Posted by Oustoura

no they are not mines but of a friend.

While hand sanding, i start from 400 if it goes well, i continue until 2000 then dremel. otherwise, if there is too much rust or deep marks i go back 240, 180 (at least) then come back until 2000. but here is the problem, when there is deep marks on the blade, even with advanced hand sanding methods don't work.

I tried to find some of my works to give an example but the are deleted due a problem with my old pc.

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Hand sanding WILL remove just about anything that is defective.
Sounds like you just don't want to put in the MANY HOURS of work to achieve this though.

Shortcuts are EASY but come at a cost... (POWER TOOLS)
Like others have said you can round off crisp edges QUICKLY and etching can be GONE in a split second.
Not to mention the risk of the blade FLYING out of your hands or getting caught on the wheel and cracking or breaking.

Dremel tools spin WAY FAST and you can also ruin the temper of the blade.
Hand Sanding might take WEEKS to accomplish what you are looking for.
The heaver grinds (wedge) are better for this as they have MUCH more material that can be removed.

I HAND sanded this for around 4-5 hrs. a day for about two weeks;

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Originally Posted by Chevhead

Hand sanding WILL remove just about anything that is defective.
Sounds like you just don't want to put in the MANY HOURS of work to achieve this though.

Shortcuts are EASY but come at a cost... (POWER TOOLS)
Like others have said you can round off crisp edges QUICKLY and etching can be GONE in a split second.
Not to mention the risk of the blade FLYING out of your hands or getting caught on the wheel and cracking or breaking.

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yes nice work actually. but i'm not considering that the handsanding won't take off all etches. as i said earlier (if you see my other comments!) i was asking for a quicker way.

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Originally Posted by Oustoura

yes nice work actually. but i'm not considering that the handsanding won't take off all etches. as i said earlier (if you see my other comments!) i was asking for a quicker way.

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There's quick and there is the right way.
Remember the old saying....

Nothing good comes easy and nothing easy is good.

Now if you want to just buff them up so they look half way decent.... A buffer will get it done much faster but as I said before you will probably round over some of the crisp edges. A buffer it's just like SR Shaving... There is an art to using it and getting it to look right.

There is restoration and, there is RESTORATION.

So, first It depends on, what you are aiming at. Personally, when shooting at distance, I like to holdover, just a bit, to allow for bullet drop…

Here are a couple pics, at which you might sight at. On this forum, we are blessed to display the amazing work of several, first class restorers, turning out higher, than museum quality restoration. Most hand sand and buff to finish.

As with honing, it is not just about, how shiny you can make it, and certainly not how quickly, it can be done…

This is just one example of Mike, (Wolfpack64’s) hard work, notice the flat flats, crisp edges and pleasing lines, the results speak for themselves, lots of hand sanding …


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Edit It's Wolfpack 34, sorry Mike, I gave you a promotion...

I can say this, I bought a GD just to play with as to not ruin a good blade. I hand sanded and then thought well I will try my buffing wheel, thank god that POS was not sharp because I would have lost a finger! It was my own fault but the buffer grabbed the blade and flung it at mach 1 to the floor bent the blade at the tip and basically ruined the blade ( I know funny to say about a GD ) but still I ended up with a small knuckle cut and a great lessen learned. Hand sanding is safe and though not the most fun a great result can be had. I am currently hand sanding an ebay purchase and it is taking time but turning out very well and I have not been hurt. I just work on it when I have time and in the last 3 days it has been progressing nicely. I recommend staying away from power tools. Also you would not want to over heat the blade while buffing on a high speed buffer.

A good safety rule is to remove the edge from any razor, that you will be working on. I run a 400 grit diamond file on the edge and dull to a butter knife edge, just a couple swipes.

I will be re-honing when finished, any way and at least, I will have a clean edge to hone on. Sanding, Buffing and Polishing will ruin the edge anyway.

Hand sanding on a piece of 6mm craft foam also allows you to press the razor into the foam and sand or polish right to the edge without any danger of cutting yourself, the edge is buried in the foam.

I also do not wear gloves when buffing as it gives a better grip and allows you to feel the heat in the blade, as soon as it begins to get uncomfortable, quench. I keep a cut off water bottle on the bench with the buffer, cut off half way, they are surprisingly stable and there is no risk of breakage, should it fall.

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just want to have a advice. i just cleaned up all the rust on this one. what do you think? need to go down untill which grit of paper to rid of these etchse? 300 - 200 or under once more?

I usually start with 600 and see what remains. On that one maybe start with 400 and see, do not use a lot of pressure to begin and use a hard backer, synthetic wine corks work well, split in half length wise, for the flats. I rarely go below 320.

Try to put in the least amount of deep scratches as possible, but if you find deeper pitting, then drop down on grit, keep dropping until you find a grit that will remove the damage causing the shallowest stria.

The little bit of time you lose, doing it this way will pay off large, by not having to spend a lot of time removing needless deep scratches.

Where a lot of folks have issues with sanding is they don’t change paper often enough, once it stops cutting, get a new piece or shift to an unused part. Or by not changing directions, count your strokes, say 10 or 20, then switch to 90 degree strokes, heel to toe, then spine to edge.

And dull the edge for saftey, I work on a sheet of 6mm craft foam, that you can bury the edge into the foam and sand to the edge with no danger of cutting yourself.

I cut my paper into 3X3 in squares with a Garage Sale paper cutter, here is a post I made about making the paper into pads to save time and looking for grits. Sandpaper Notepads.

I started by 400 than 320. I'm at 800 now but there're still etches. I build a base as said in hand sanding tuto.

When I am hand sanding a blade it seems like the 800 grit range is a turning point and it pays to spend a little extra time there. I find that if I can make it through the 800 grit and have all previous scratches removed it gets noticeably easier from there on. If I make it to final polish and see some scratches are revealed it is usually scratches that I missed around the 800 mark.

I have started at 800 or 600 grit depending on the pitting, scratches & such, then work your way up or down. I have been cutting my pieces around 1" X 2.5" & on pieces that aren't marked, I get my sharpie & mark them so I know what grit it is. I have 240, 280, 320, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1k, 1.5k, 2k, 2.5k & 3k w/d sandpaper. I also have some micro mesh.

“I'm at 800 now but there're still etches.”

Are the etches, scratches from sandpaper or pitting/ defects in the razor.

If pitting, and you intend to remove them, you have to do so at the lowest grit you are using, stay on that grit until you are happy with the finish.

Some times when you move up in grits the defects that you missed are revealed and you have to drop back down to get them out. Remove the previous grits scratches with the next grit, or you will not remove them completely and it will affect your finish.

It is the biggest mistake most folks make, moving up too soon. Sometime the best thing you can do, is take a break…

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Originally Posted by Euclid440

“I'm at 800 now but there're still etches.”

Are the etches, scratches from sandpaper or pitting/ defects in the razor.

If pitting, and you intend to remove them, you have to do so at the lowest grit you are using, stay on that grit until you are happy with the finish.

Some times when you move up in grits the defects that you missed are revealed and you have to drop back down to get them out. Remove the previous grits scratches with the next grit, or you will not remove them completely and it will affect your finish.

It is the biggest mistake most folks make, moving up too soon. Sometime the best thing you can do, is take a break…

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Thanks for this. Actually I was thinking to get down until 120 buti afraid it will be so hard. For now I came back to 400 and working on it.

actually working on a razor which has black stains not too deep. and as i have problem with my tools i'm using only sandpaper. yesterday worked 6 hours and still not finished the work but i see it getting cleaner. the only thing is, it is really slow.

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Originally Posted by Oustoura

Attachment 242517

just want to have a advice. i just cleaned up all the rust on this one. what do you think? need to go down untill which grit of paper to rid of these etchse? 300 - 200 or under once more?

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Hey, again mates.
Well I'm still on the razor and trying only sandpapers. But really there is way too get rid of these black stains. Even I tried 120. They are still there.
:cry: the
Don't you have a trick to tell me. That's annoying really.

Black stains are called "Devil's Spit"! You may just have to live with them[emoji33]


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