Thread: Handsanding metal to mirror?

I am new to sanding metal.
I have worked an old blade upwards through the grits, from 100, 150, 220, 320, 600, 1200, 2000.

The blade looks much better, but the 2000 grit leaves tracks in the metal, and does not give it a mirror finish.

How do I get that mirror finish on the blade, what do I use after 2000 grit?

I would think you need to go all the way to 1 micron with micromesh then continue with metal polish such as MOther's ,Flitz, Maas

After reaching 2000 grit, I then finish up with a micro-mesh set - 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, 12000 - followed by a bit of work with some metal polish to take it to mirror. (Am not sure how micro-mesh grits compare to sandpaper grits so a few of the lower MM grits may actually be redundant.)

Buffing compounds (black, white, and red in particular) used with a rotary tool and felt buffing wheels might work too -- but I have only dabbled with this a very, very little but myself so can't really say how effective/ineffective it might be.

Two ways: buffing wheels or a vibratory tumbler. On a buffing wheel you can use black emory then white jeweler's rouge, then hand polish with Maas or something. In a tumbler, I'd go straight to corn cob with Rubbing Compound.

There's plenty of stuff to read HERE and then I'd watch Brad's videos HERE.

Make final touches with your 2000 grit paper very light. After paper you can use compounds like Farecla (used to remove scratches from car paint). Usually Farecla is used with buffing wheels etc, but with small items (such as razor) you can use it with hands as well. Finally polish the blade with Autosol etc. That should give mirror finish.

Pastor,

Having no buffing wheels or such power tools, I always find that hand-finishing a blade from tatty to a mirror finish is a really soul destroying job Character building yes, but oh my is it a pain !

I finally waved the white flag, and stop at ca 2000 grit film and now go to a friend who has some buffing wheels for the final finish.



Have fun !

best regards

Russ

Thanks all.
I think I will just not try to go there buy hand.
However I have some Autosol, in that gives a nice shine to any razor - scratched or not.

Originally Posted by Sailor

Make final touches with your 2000 grit paper very light. After paper you can use compounds like Farecla (used to remove scratches from car paint). Usually Farecla is used with buffing wheels etc, but with small items (such as razor) you can use it with hands as well. Finally polish the blade with Autosol etc. That should give mirror finish.

farecle is an exc. product,i have been using it for about 5 years now to buff cars clearcoats, so i started to hand rub some of my e-bay razors with it and it works well. but it does take some time.