Thread: Handsanding howto

I have a norton sized stone that I cut from a litography stone, which is lime I think.
It is flat, and it has the nice property that you can hit it with an edge withot damaging or blunting that edge.

Anyway, if you keep the blade flat on the stone, then there is no problem.
If you try to protect it with tape, then there is a part which you can't sand.

It should be obvious that you don't hone a blade until after the sanding and the polishing.
If an edge is a bit nicked, then there is even a chance that the nicks will be partially gone afterwards, because when you sand from edge to spine and back, you will sand the very edge as well.

Btw a VERY important additional tip: when you are done sanding for the night, rub the blade with rubbing alcohol to get rid of grease and dirt.
If you don't, then you might get a very nasty discovery if you lay it away for a week. And this is especially tru at the low grit stage, because those deep scratches attrackt moisture and grease very much.
I learned this the hard way.