Thread: New Idea??? Experimentation....

Okay I found out a no-no, don't use sandbox sand. The first razor that I've destroyed an edge on and it was in some sandbox sand. I didn't think it was that much larger of a grit but after 14 hours the edge has too big of a chip to hone out and probably not worth taking to the water wheel.
Just a word of caution.
Good thing I didn't try gravel.

Ted
ps: it was a full hollow ground and that made a difference, I'm pretty sure a wedge wouldn't have had the same results.

Welp I jumped on board here. Went to harborfreight and they had 3 new tumblers in the store in the back fresh off the truck! No media though. Grabed one and might be going back for a second. Picked up some tuffnut at my gun shop be he was out of corn.

Plopped 2 yardsale blades in for testing. Looks like I started this hobby at a great time. I was kinda put off with all the sanding you guys talked about

Thanks for the info I will post pics soon.

Originally Posted by D2T

This happened to be the same brand I ordered and the description I found online for formula 2 was "Ground corn cobs. Combined with a chromium oxide cleaner and polisher."

Just an FYI.

Thanks for the update, and searching it out!!! We just keep learning more and more on this, and it is getting better and better as we go along...
I guess Ted figured out for us that certain sands are probably not such a good idea, I was really thinking that white crystalline sand, super light in weight might really work, but I am going to have to find it... Then try it

Glen you're right that the super fine white sand or silica works, also the fine glass beads also work.
Just don't try sand box sand.
Ted

Wooooo Hoooooo. I'm on board, guys. Just purchased what I need from Midway (thanks for the suggestion, Glen). By next weekend, I'll have my first blade a hummin'! I bought the 5 pack of RCBS polishing powder that was highly recommended by some on the site. It was only $6.50 and one person said a 1/2 pack lasted a very long time; the reviewers were astonished at the mirror polish it left on brass.

The newbs are going to love us for most likely putting more great razors on BST that would otherwise be gathering dust.

Chris L

OK today i have a little more cautionary advice...

if your razors are magnetized (mine that were on the 20/20 system already) they will meet up during the polishing... is will be very hard on the edges,read chips galore but not very deep, honable. degauss them and it will be better.

make sure the bowl is properly tightened on the base. the new one i got this week (harbor freight) worked itself loose last night. when i went to the shop to check on it it was spinning and clanking around... glad i had set it on the floor and not the bench as it has migrated quite a bit. i removed the bowl, tightened the nut(7.25 turns) that holds the spindle rod to the base and then re-installed the bowl. as a precaution i did the same to the old one that i had the walnut in and it only took a 1/2 turn to tighten up. For those people just getting their first tumbler... the bowl should not rotate the media and blades should though.

that being said i have enjoyed a great deal of success with this method, but, i still have staining on some of the blades after 3 days of tumbling. the blades are smooth and have a great shine almost a perfect mirror but the staining is there, highly reflective but still there.... any solutions?

Noticing the same effect with reguards to staining. The one blade that was bad with rust that I took off with a wirebrush dremmel the darkness does not seem to want to come off. I don't have the corn media yet but I figured the tuff nut should take the stains off.

I'd strongly recommend buying from Midway rather than Harbor Freight. I have two from Harbor Freight and both had the trouble previously mentioned of the bowl turning. Well after tightening them down numerous times one just sort of exploded on me. Well it actually broke and sent media all over and broke the razor. Actually I can't even find the razor except for half of one half of the scale. Now the media is confined to a 3 foot area but still why take the chance. The one from Midway even with shipping is not anymore expensive and a hell of a lot better machine.
Just my two cents worth.
Ted

I think some of these older blades, particularly the old wedges, are not going to be completely stain free unless you do a regrind or something close such as a power sanding or grinding with a Dremel.
What does everyone else think?
Ted

Originally Posted by stogieiv

I think some of these older blades, particularly the old wedges, are not going to be completely stain free unless you do a regrind or something close such as a power sanding or grinding with a Dremel.
What does everyone else think?
Ted

+1
I am finding the same, stains are frigging stains and this is not taking them all out...
Again I think this is a method that takes the place of 400 grit thru 3000 grit sandpaper
If used properly it also imparts a almost mirror finish to the blade..
But I still had to use the 220 grit and 320 grit as normal to remove pitting and those black stains on the blade...
Also I would recommend not using it with the scales attached at this time, we need more research in this area before calling that a viable option...