Thread: First Restoration Help--Advice for Next Steps

Sand with 600 and go easy over the etch. 600 will polish nicely with 1k and you can polish 1k with a good metal polish, or go to 2k then polish. The stamp side does not look too bad, try some 1k first and drop down if needed.

More importantly 600 will tell you how much more work is needed for deep pitting and if you need to drop to 400 or lower.

The back side will take lower grit to get the pitting out, but 600 will let you know if you really want to go deeper or live with some pitting. I try to sand with the highest grit that will remove the damage and create the shallowest scratch pattern.

600 is also a nice satin finish if you decide, not to go for a mirror. Sand with a wine cork wrapped with a 3x3 inch piece of 6mm craft foam. Sand edge to spine until you get an even stria pattern then sand heel to toe, removing the previous pattern. Keep alternating until you get an even finish.

If you want a satin finish, take it to 1k, then sand with 600 in a single direction, with new clean paper wet, to lay down an even satin finish.

I usually begin any hand sanding with 600 and evaluate, unless the blade just needs brightening, in which case I begin with 1k. 1k and Green greased compound on a buffer will make as blade pop, if it is not scratched or pitted.

I sand dry until the finish paper. Then with WD40, Simple Green or Windex. Fresh, clean paper and even pressure, is the key to a good final finish.

Thats the ticket. Go with euclids advice. He has helped me and know sanding better than me. I need to write this info down myself!

One of the things that I do, when doing on line research, is copy the information, from a thread, document or other posting and paste, into a Word Document,

Title the document and make an appropriate file, on the desktop so you can find and review it at will.

Saves having to search for it when you need it.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Sand with 600 and go easy over the etch. 600 will polish nicely with 1k and you can polish 1k with a good metal polish, or go to 2k then polish. The stamp side does not look too bad, try some 1k first and drop down if needed.

More importantly 600 will tell you how much more work is needed for deep pitting and if you need to drop to 400 or lower.

The back side will take lower grit to get the pitting out, but 600 will let you know if you really want to go deeper or live with some pitting. I try to sand with the highest grit that will remove the damage and create the shallowest scratch pattern.

600 is also a nice satin finish if you decide, not to go for a mirror. Sand with a wine cork wrapped with a 3x3 inch piece of 6mm craft foam. Sand edge to spine until you get an even stria pattern then sand heel to toe, removing the previous pattern. Keep alternating until you get an even finish.

If you want a satin finish, take it to 1k, then sand with 600 in a single direction, with new clean paper wet, to lay down an even satin finish.

I usually begin any hand sanding with 600 and evaluate, unless the blade just needs brightening, in which case I begin with 1k. 1k and Green greased compound on a buffer will make as blade pop, if it is not scratched or pitted.

I sand dry until the finish paper. Then with WD40, Simple Green or Windex. Fresh, clean paper and even pressure, is the key to a good final finish.

Thanks for this advice. I decided that I needed another razor, you know, for "practice," so I picked up another W&B that doesn't have the etching so I can work on my sanding skills, so I'll be giving this a go now

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

Here you go: http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...-way-i-do.html

That's the one I've been studying up on--I have scraper on the way!

Originally Posted by jseitz

That's the one I've been studying up on--I have scraper on the way!

That's the way to do it. I did mine by hand sanding and it sucked. Plus I had blanks .250 thick that I got down to like .114 thick. Lots of sanding.

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Plus I had blanks .250 thick that I got down to like .114 thick. Lots of sanding.

I opted for the 1/8" blanks at Masecraft. I'm hoping those work by being thin enough to shape, but not so thick as to require loads of sanding.

1/8 inch is still a bit thick. Finish the scales around .100 inches and you will be good to go. Good luck.

Thanks everyone, especially Euclid440. Before and after pictures (600 up through 1200 grit and a good Mother's polishing)

You did very well, I'm glad you were able to restrain yourself from total destruction, and keep it simple. [emoji482]