Thread: Sanding Question

So, this is probably a stupid question and I hope it has a simple answer without all the prefences most things related to shaving seem to have.

When sanding down a blade to remove rust and other imperfections do you sand wet or dry?

Dry, but oddly enough, with wet/dry (type) sandpaper!

Simple enough?

You can also check here.

That's what I thought, but I wanted to ask before starting out on this project. Already wasted mucho time due to bad advice (from TRW not SRP)

Yeah- important thing is to use sandpaper made for metal, and start at a higher grit than you think you need. You can always drop down to some meaner stuff if it's taking too long, but you can never add steel back.

I usually keep it dry until I get to the higher grits, but I can't say I'm a super-experienced restorer, so take it with a grain of salt.

I might be the only one but I do not like the black wet/dry sandpapers for the lower grits (600 and below). I like the gold type (aluminum oxide) Mirka or 3M used with odorless mineral spirits or kerosene as a lubricant.

The black wet dry cannot be beat for the higher grits.

Charlie

I didn't realize the use of oil during sanding was so common. I use it too, but didn't mention it because I wanted to leave the answer simple as he requested. Oh well, now he can make a more informed decision now that he has options--just what he didn't want!

Oil makes it go quicker. And a whole **** of a lot messier too. I stand over my kitchen sink and watch television from across the room.

Much thanks to everyone. I'm going to start work on one of my blades after my morning coffee.

I'll do the coarse work dry and see how that goes for me. Pics of my success or failure to follow

I'm still new at it, but I've been using WD40 on wet/dry sandpaper, whichever grit I'm using. I've found that it goes faster, smoother, and the results are overall better vs dry or just plain wet. I guess it could be in my head, but I'm sticking with it