Thread: Handsanding howto

How can you tell when your really at the point where you should move up in grit ?

Obviously I have found myself doing this

I move up when ALL the pits and rust that I want out are gone

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I move up when ALL the pits and rust that I want out are gone

Yes. Going up sooner than that only takes more time, because removing pitting at 80 grit is faster than removing pitting at 320 grit.
If you get rid of all the damage first, all the next grits are solely for getting rid of the scratch lines of the previous grit.

Have any of you guys ripped a blade by going to deep into the pitting? I wonder if this is something to worry about when sanding.

Al raz.

Yes. See here for pics:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/galle...shed-last.html

The rot had made the blade so thing that the tip fell off
But it was only the toe, so I just made it shorter and turned it into a notch point.

Originally Posted by Earthdawn

How can you tell when your really at the point where you should move up in grit ?

This has turned into an outstanding thread!

Sorry if this is redundant. The point where you move to the next grit is when all the lines from the last grit no longer show. Any step is a good example, say you've done 400 grit and are now working on 600 grit and have changed angle slightly to better see the 400 grit lines. Once all those are gone, the 600 grit is done and you can move along.

The biggest change in my finish work occurred when I listened to a more experienced maker, and I bought one of those visor thingees with magnifying lenses. If you think your stuff is good enough. Look at it again through a magnifier and prepare to be crushed. Then start again w/lenses. It really makes a difference.

Anyone remember picture puzzles? The same phenomena works here too. Leave the blade alone for overnight, for a day or so, then go back (with magnifier) and eyeball it again. Stuff just shows up that you swear you didn't leave behind. As with puzzles, you can't see stuff that is right in front of you after staring for a while.

That being said, you have to decide when to quit. If you use enough magnification, scratches will be there everytime you look, even on stuff that is mirror buffed. There is no such thing as perfect when enough magnification is available.