Thread: Will the Scratches Ever Come Out?

+1 on what holli4pirating said. That is exactly what I do.
You could also try your local Auto accessory type store. They seem to have a better range of W/D paper (the ones around here do anyway), you sould be able to fill in some of the gaps in your progression, 180, 320 grits etc

+1 to holli here as well. This seems to be working pretty well for me on the three blades I am trying to polish and the razors that I am setting up for rotation as well. I just have a problem with finding a stopping point. I mean, for a daily user that you are not taking to a mirror finish, when do you let it go? I tend to grab a blade in relatively good shape, clean and disinfect it, and think "maybe I will hit it with some 1000 to take a bit of the dust off..." and forty minutes later my hands are black and I am working 220 on a scaleless blade. What do you guys do to just CLEAN UP a daily user?

Being in the city, there aren't any Autozones nearby. I've tried to go perpendicular from grit to grit, but Dylan's idea is better thought out and might work better. Part of this could just be some undiagnosed OCD...

Paul,

I worked on a blade for two weeks and finally gave up on hand sanding. When I got to final polish, it just showed scratches here and there that drove me crazy! I know it must be possible but I finally pulled out the buffer and tumbler and got there that way.


Barry

When I was doing only hand work, I used synthetic steel wool instead of sandpaper. I found that using the synth steel wool with MAAS seemed to leave far less scratches than when using just the synth steel wool. For example, with MAAS, the grey 000 Norton synth steel wool will not leave scratches (that I can see), but without MAAS it will.

Originally Posted by BingoBango

I've been hand sanding a bunch of razors, and I can't seem to get the low grit scratches out. The progression I'm working with is 120, 220, 400, 600 - the only grits I can find in the hardware stores in my area. When I go from 120 to 220, I keep on going until the scratches seem to go away, but when I go up to the next level, it's almost as if I'm revealing the scratches from the first level.

Is there a solution for this? I have been going in perpendicular directions on each grit, hoping it will remove the scratches faster and be more obvious when I make progress. I know I'll need to get 1K or higher to get rid of the 600 grit scratches, so I'm not worried about that for now. I need to make a trip to an Autozone...

2cents....
Skip the 120 and 220 in the future unless it is absolutely necessary.
In general you need to get the 120 scratches out with 220 and if
you do not it almost takes an infinite time to get 120 grit scratches out
with 400 or 600..... As thin as a full hollow blade is the coarse grits
have the potential to remove too much material on the thin parts of
the blade. Hunt some 1000, 2000 wet dry paper at an
auto supply or hardware store. My bits of 3M 2000 wet/ dry are marked
for finishing layers of clear coat on an auto and while 2000 does not
grind out pits it very much cleans things up so I can see if I need to
bother.... with a coarser grit.

Support your abrasive paper and the razor with something that
has been shaped to match the curves. Perhaps some soft pine...
this permits some additional elbow grease.....

Try to find some 180 and 320 paper.
I found that at coarse grits, doing a big jump (120 to 220) will take a long time to wipe out.

If you guys remember TheTopher .... I watched him refinish razors with the dremel and compounds. He would get a mirror finish but that was after up to ten (10) hours of hand sanding.

I know you guys were losing sleep over my low grit scratches, so I thought I'd update you on my progress. (Damn my fingers hurt!) I think the biggest problems for me were a) pressure, b) consistency at each level and c) recognizing where the scratches were coming from. I think I addressed each of them.

For this session I used 400, 600 then I added 1K/1200 and finally 2K. I'd say I spent about 10 minutes at each level, and everything has a pretty even 2K texture that should buff out using Grey Star then White Rouge on a Dremel.

This was the process at each level of grit: First, I wiped down the blade with clean, wet paper towel to remove any residual SP from the last grit. Second, I used circular motions to "erase" any old scratch marks with light but firm pressure keeping half of the blade on my jig and half in my non-dominant hand. Third, I held the blade in my non-dominant hand and used heel-to-toe motions to "erase" the circles I just created with light pressure. If I did each of the steps correctly, I'd have only one size scratch going heel-to-toe on the razor and I'd move to the next grit.

The three major differences: I didn't keep the razor on the table or my makeshift jig to avoid using too much pressure. By holding the razor in my hand, there was really only so much force I could exert and I think it made things move quicker. Second, I didn't use a block to hold the sandpaper for the same reason: limit pressure. Finally, I had my non-dominant hand in a work glove so I wouldn't cut myself while I held the blade. Sure it was dull, but because I wasn't squeezing the life out of it, it would slip a bit in my hand and could've cut me if I didn't wear a glove.

Well, thanks again for all the tips! Maybe this'll help somebody else as they hand sand.

Glad to hear you've had some success, and thanks for sharing your tips with the rest of us.

I think the glove is a great idea. I'm more likely to cut myself with "dull" razors than "sharp" ones. Remember, dull and sharp are relative; a dull razor is still about as sharp as the average person's kitchen knife (unless you're a knife nut).