Thread: Thirsting The Knowledge

Hello. yes i am as green as a pea (newb) i have just fallen in love with restoring, or wanting to restore, straight razors, i have bought half a dozen, i have read as much as i can, and even orderd bills cd on restoration, i have followed the knowledge on grates of sanding to wax and oil, but guess what, yep i messed up, firstly i took the most damaged blade i cold find to try my first restore (i guessed if i do the most difficult first, the others may be just a little easier, probably not.) anyways i decided to use a rotary on the blade to get rid of the most damage, i then went through the various grades of sanding, wire wool and even compound rubbing paste over a period of 2 days (what is the average sanding time per blade please?), this has brought a beautiful mirror finish to most of the blade but i still see little indents here and there, whilst using the rotary tonight i made matters worse and made more tiny indents etc, what can i use, preferably rotary for the moment, to get rid of the little holes/marks i see on the blade before i begin to sand it down again,
thank you so much in advance for any help.
Regards
Welshman

Welcome to SRP, Welshman!
.... and to dirty looking fingernails!

How far you go with your rust removal or polishing is really all up to you.
I like pits while others don't and it does depend a lot n the razor you have.
Some very old sheffields are better to be left with their patina I'd say,
but they have enough mass to give them a good mirror polish as well
and remove all the top layer. Its really a matter of taste.

For the rotary tools like Dremel and Proxxon there are
sky blue silicone disks with a bit aluminium oxide embedded
that work quite well.
Be careful not to spin into the edge.
Always spin away from the spine, towards the edge
and protect your eyes, please.

Thank you for your advice Olivia, so, what your saying is some pitting cannot be removed or is best left there rather than grinding the blade down to much and damaging it, what other dremel tools are good for the removal and mostly the polishing please?
Thank you
Regards
Welshman
PS Thank you for the welcome.

Hi Welshman!
Yes, thats what I think.
Oh there is a big variety among the Proxxon bits.
Personally I use those blue silicon things mostly, then something like a wool fuzzle type of thing with chromium oxide or cerium oxide, whereas I think that ChrOx is the better choice. Sometimes I need a pink Aluminium Oxide wheel for shoulder issues.
So not so many actually.

Ahh, Thank you Olivia, yes there different colours and i need to knwo what each one is for, (sind Sie deutsch) what would be the best rotary for polishing please
Thank you
Regards
Welshman

The blue disks
Brass brushes
Rubber polishers
Felt, cotton and leather polishing set
Cotton only
Pink Carborundum
Felt

thats about what I use
Alltogether here
Fast and wonderful customer service!
One of my favourite shops.

I just recommended these in another thread, and I stick to that recommendation. They do a fantastic job, and come in three grits which will take you all the way from sanding out deep pitting, to making a smooth satin finish that is ready for felt polishing.

hhmmmm.... I've tried to use these on acrylics and fired them.
Guess I'll have to try them on steel. Maybe they do better there.

Thank you so much for sharing with me
Regards
Welshman