Thread: Hand sanding diminishing returns

The Topher was a member that used to be active here and lived near enough to me for me to visit him and watch him hone and restore razors. I've seen some of his work and he could take a rusted and pitted old Sheffield wedge and have it shinning like a new dime.

So I asked him what his sanding progression was and he told me. Then I asked him how long it took to do one particular Mappin & Webb and he replied that the hand sanding had taken 10 hours on that particular blade before the polishing.

I decided that I really preferred blades with patina at that point.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The Topher was a member that used to be active here and lived near enough to me for me to visit him and watch him hone and restore razors. I've seen some of his work and he could take a rusted and pitted old Sheffield wedge and have it shinning like a new dime.

So I asked him what his sanding progression was and he told me. Then I asked him how long it took to do one particular Mappin & Webb and he replied that the hand sanding had taken 10 hours on that particular blade before the polishing.

I decided that I really preferred blades with patina at that point.

That's not patina, that's character

If you want to minimize the time hand sanding, here are some tips that will help.

Only use wet/dry sandpaper and use it wet.

Start with a low grit of 80 to 120. The lower the grit, the more deep new scratches will be introduced and the more sanding you'll have to do to get them out. But go too high and it takes you much, much longer to get down to clean steel. Use good judgement on it.

Don't refine your grain until you've got clean steel with the coarsest grit.

Use the sandpaper like it's free. You can triple the time it could take if you spend your energy rubbing your razor with dull grit.

Save your fingers - use one of those pink pencil erasers as a sanding block. You can even shape it to fit the contour. It will give a little bit and that's good for the sanding process. Wrap a strip of sandpaper around it and go for it. You still have to be careful, but not only will your sanding go more quickly this way, but you're much less likely to slice the hell out of a finger while you're sanding if you use a flexible mini sanding block like that.

Be aware that it is possible to apply too much pressure, creating deep scratches that are hard as hell to get out with the next grit. Don't get into the habit of sanding too hard when you are removing the pitting. I made that mistake once, and it started a vicious cycle of having to sand harder and harder to remove all the scratches from the previous grit. Best to take it nice and easy, you will find the process much more enjoyable that way.