Thread: Alternative to hand sanding blades?

Does anyone else have any tricks they are willing to share when it comes to restoring a blade to a mirror finish? The only way I know is start with whatever grit is needed, and work my way up to 2000! Are there any sanding wheels that are in the 1000-2000 grit range?

Has anyone ever tried these out?
Amazon.com: 10-Pack White Ceramic Polishing Wheels S Fine 1500 Grit: Industrial & Scientific

Personally I wouldnt use hard ceramic wheels to polish a razor. It'd be far too easy to take a chunk out of it, mark it or grind through the blade. I'd use buffing wheels and polishing compounds after going up to about 600 grit by hand to get the worst of the rust off.

You will need to be very careful when using buffing wheels to polish a blade as the blade will easily overheat and ruin the temper, plus there is the risk of the razor being flung by the wheel as it turns. You will need safety gloves, face protection and a heavy leather apron when you do this, plus some good footwear.

The other option is one that Glen (gssixgun) started a thread about, which is to use brass tumblers with walnut and corncob media, plus some polish. This gives a really good mirror finish, with the added advantage of being much safer, not removing any engraving (which sanding and buffing can do) and being able to leave overnight..! Just set it up and come back 24 hours later..!

EDIT: Heres the thread.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...mentation.html

Personally I'd go for the brass tumbler option. Safer, easier, no chance of overheating or being hit by a flying blade, plus it'll save your engravings. The other advantage is that you can set it up and let it run while you're at work or asleep and come back to a nice shiny razor..!

Good luck!

Yep buffers and/or the tumblers (tumblers only polish ther DO NOT remove steel)

But unless I were restoring alot for other people I wouldn't bother...
The cost and danger is just not worth it if you are only restoring your own razors...

Originally Posted by Stubear

The other option is one that Glen (gssixgun) started a thread about, which is to use brass tumblers with walnut and corncob media, plus some polish. This gives a really good mirror finish, with the added advantage of being much safer, not removing any engraving (which sanding and buffing can do) and being able to leave overnight..! Just set it up and come back 24 hours later..!

Thank you, so would this be the fine grit walnut media? would corn cob from pet stores work for this??

And what is the process here, do you use the corn cob first, then go to the walnut? or do you mix these together with the polishing compound? Thanks

+1 on NOT using ceramic wheels. I have used these on other (non razor) projects and unless you are pro with these you will end up with an uneven/wavy blade.

Originally Posted by bwatte

Thank you, so would this be the fine grit walnut media? would corn cob from pet stores work for this??

And what is the process here, do you use the corn cob first, then go to the walnut? or do you mix these together with the polishing compound? Thanks

He gave you a working link to every single bit of information you could possibly want about Buying and Using them...

but here it is again...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...mentation.html

Ok got it! I saw the 30 something pages and got a little overwhelmed! But I did find the info I needed. I would also like to add that I tried something new today that worked amazingly well. I hand sanded up to 400 grit, then went through all the compounds on a flap wheel I attached to my drill press. I went through the compounds as such...

emory
stainless
tripoli
white rouge
green rouge
jewelers rouge/red rouge

I am not too sure if the red rouge didi anything though, sometimes it looks like it made it a little bit more mirror like, and then it looks as though it may have dulled the finish a little bit.

Do you know if the red rouge is necessary? when it comes to polishing I really havent seen it used by any other members, so if you have any experience with this it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again for all the info and links everyone

Let me just add another voice of agreement to the buffer or tumbler approaches. I have had some of my blades run through the famous tumbler method with amazing results. Also, I probably tried everything you could put in a rotary tool before I tried a buffer with greaseless compounds... I will never go back, but the buffer is not for the faint of heart, or the shaky of hand.. if you aren't careful the following might apply

Originally Posted by bwatte

emory
stainless
tripoli
white rouge
green rouge
jewelers rouge/red rouge

Here is something rather funny really, when it comes to buffers and the compounds...

We all basically agree the we use greaseless starting at 80-120-180-320-400-600 and that Fomax is great stuff so are some of the others... We all don't agree on the wheels here but pretty much Sisal and Sewn wheels in some combination...We really don't agree on how to load the wheels...

Now we all pretty much agree that we go into an Emory and then a SS and we use sewn wheels for the most part,,,BUT from that point on we all get a little vague maybe those final polishes are our little secrets, or the way we use them, who knows but I don't recall anyone really detailing the types they use for mirror finishes... There is an article in the Sticky at the top of the Workshop forum and I do recall one of the old members writing a list, but I do not have a link to it... I use a few different ones after the SS polishing compound the Royobi Chrome is one I love the Green CrOx is another and Blue Magic polish I have Red Rouge, but have never been a fan of it... I guess the trick after SS is to mess with them until you get the results that work for you...