Hand sanding diminishing returns

[superbleu]

I have been sanding this Morley and son's razor for about 30 minutes by hand with 180grit wet/dry and mineral oil.
There is still quite a bit of deep pitting that I am pretty sure will not come out even if I keep sanding the rest of the month. But since this is my first time doing this sort of thing, I'm in need of some advice.
Should I keep going with 180grit, or call it good and deal with the pitting that remains and continue on with the sanding progression?

[ElChatico]

I am not quite sure, but there may be a point of no return (meaning you take the scale down so low that the edge is very thin?) I seem to remember reading somewhere that the pits are sometimes "unresolveable". I am sure others can chime in.

[mainaman]

Depending on the hardness of the blade and how deep the pitting is, it could take very long time to completely clean up the blade.
You can use a belt grinder for that job, or a Dremel type tool for faster results.

[natepaint]

try hitting it with a 120 or 80 grit. my second (and current) restore job there was bad pitting on the top of the spine, I went as low as 60 grit and it still took hours upon hours to get it somewhat reasonable. Still has pitting but It's down to where I don't mind it so much.

nate

[IanS]

I've have to spend an hour tonight on 220grit sandpaper just to take out 100grit paper dremel scuffs.

Expecting to remove pitting by hand in under 30 minutes is sadly overoptimistic I fear... Maybe very light, almost invisible pitting. But the one time I hand-sanded a badly pitted razor, I spent 2 hrs on 220 before I gave up at about 50% removal.

Frankly, unless the razor is REALLY valuable to you, I'd use a power tool to remove the pitting. At some point your time becomes worth more than the razor.

[ndw76]

I'd say either stick with the 180 grit or go with a lower grit. Either way after spending a few hours on a blade I think it is a good idea to put it aside for a day or two to prevent yourself from going crazy or doind something stupid. 'Hmmmm, that grinding wheel would remove pits'

[ChrisMeyer]

If you have pitting along the edge bevel you need to sand it out so that it doesn't interfere with honing. For any other pits, it's up to you to decide whether or not they bother you. Personally, I don't really mind light pitting or discoloration on the blade. I think it adds character.

However, for deep pitting that I want to remove, I find that a belt grinder (at very slow speed) is the most reasonable way to go. Hand sanding would just take too long and would not be worth the effort to me.