Thread: Handsanding howto

Sorry, I was unclear in my post. I started with lower grits and worked my way up to 400. And for some reason, I thought 400-600-1000,1500,2000 was skipping a lot of grits, but looks like the only grit I skipped from the original suggestion was 1200 . Thanks a lot for the advice though guys.

Bill Ellis makes and sells these safety jigs that have rare earth magnets under the surface where you place the blade. That allows you to use both hands to sand,buff or whatever.
Believe me that blade is not gonna move even using a Dremel. Here's the link and they are in stock or you can make your own.
Bill's Straight Razor Info

Recently, I have tried sanding with zirconia. Purchased a cheap cloth backed belt from a stainless steel supplier at 120 grit which I then cut up into strips.

Cuts faster than carbide, very nice for removing pits.

being a massage therapist I have a very similar problem with trying to save my thumbs. after seeing the home made handle I wanted to share that there are a wide variety of hand held tools that may work better than the woodworking tools.
this is one that is great but expensive:
THERAPIST THUMB | Massage Warehouse
this one is only $7.00 and may need to be sanded to give it a better concave shape, maybe even gluing a piece of leather like on the wooden version.
Anyway, there are others on this site and others. Just thought I would throw it out there.
Also, I am just starting to do my first restore. What about different grades of steel wool? How do they work and where can I get the different gauges from?

This thread is what I really needed to read; I'm about to attempt my first blade restoration but I have a question before I begin. Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere... I couldn't find it though. I'll be sanding a Dorko and the blade is of the variety that has gold (I don't know what to call it- wash?inlay?) along with decorative etching/engraving. Should I be concerned about sanding this emblem? Do I need to go light on the area, or do I treat it like this thread describes (starting with 80 grit and end with 2000 grit)? Thanks for any help.

thanks bruno that was some great info !

First, are you sure you want your first sanding job done on a Dorko? That's an expensive razor to destroy.
Second, if you sand it AT ALL, then you will lose the gold leaf. Even metal polish quickly removes it.
Finally, the grit you begin with is determined by the extent of the damage/corrosion. It might be 80 grit, but it might also be 600 or higher.

I would suggest that you practice this with a crap razor. Most people don't get their first hand sanding job right, with the most common mistake being the failure to completely remove the scratch pattern of a lower grit before moving up to the next.

Utopian is right on that you will lose the gold wash quickly. If it were me I'd get a cheap practice razor and practice on that. That Dorko is just to nice to work on like that.

Thanks guys. It's great that people still read this thread
As for the gold wash: as soon as you start sanding or polishing, it will be gone.

Awesome, thanks for all the responses!

So how are people restoring blades with gold wash in them? I've seen dozens of pictures of restored Dovos, and other Solingen blades. Is there another method or technique that one uses to clean-up these razors?