Thanks for the help, guys! You've filled me in on a lot of details I was uncertain of before.

Those were some detailed replies, and I plan to use all of the information in them tomorrow when I go to pick up the sandpaper you've mentioned. I haven't shaved since Wednesday, so my mission is to complete my restoration of this razor, sharpen it, and then shave with it. Heh.

I found that the electrical tape is a really handy tool to be using. It really lets you lay the razor right down on the stone and get a great edge in a short amount of time.

I think I spent about two hours working on that chip in the blade. At first, I was trying to keep the razor very flat against the stone, but I was making very little progress that way. Plus, when I'd look at the edge I was creating, it wasn't all that straight.

What I did was switch to a steep angle, which straightened the edge out nicely and diminished the size of the chip considerably. Now it's almost completely gone. I can still detect a very slight bit of it, but I have to turn the blade for it to catch the light, and even then it's very subtle. Barely detectable with my fingernail. I figure that because I'm still going to have to put a good edge on with the 4K and then refine with the 8K, it will be undetectable by then. I think now's a good time to stop and approach the sanding and polishing tomorrow.

Anyhow, here's the progress so far:



I hope I can show you guys a finely polished blade tomorrow.

So, in summary, which sandpaper grits will I need? 1000, 1500 and 2000?