Thread: Making and Using Paper Buffing Masks

The next stage was to pierce the mask with some small holes with a sewing needle and then glue it down onto the razor with super glue.

I experienced no trouble at all with the glue-up, but I see (from my results) that the mask moved ever so slightly during that process. (I have some thoughts for better line-up procedures, but I have yet to work those out to my satisfaction.)

The next stage was to take the masked razor to the buffer. This time I gave it the Full Monty. I went through five grades of buffing compound (coarse to fine).

After the second buffing I thought I saw some little pinholes developing in the mask. I'm not certain if this was actually so, but I stopped, cleaned the mask (with some benzine) and then glued on some tiny snippets of paper with more super glue to be absolutely sure. Then it was back to the buffing wheels for the final three grades of compound.

I was absolutely right about how difficult it would be to get the dried mask-and-glue combination off of the blade. But this time I played it a little smarter. I layered some slices of paper towel on top of the mask, saturated them in acetone and wrapped the blade and soaked paper towel in a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent evaporation. After about ten minutes I unwrapped the blade to find the mask much looser and more pliable than it had been. This definitely helped get it off faster. In truth, fifteen minutes would have been even better for this 'soaking' time.

The last two images are of the final results. The first is from the flatbed scanner again for comparison to the original scan. The other is just a snapshot of the final buffed-out razor on my drawing table.

As I mentioned, the positioning could have been better, but the mask definitely did do its work. I was able to successfully buff out the blade without losing the design work. It can also be seen that the gold work did not suffer in the least from the super glue or the removal of the mask with the acetone.

I trust this proves useful to you all.

- Ignatz

Here are some other little important bits of information in connection with using these paper buffing masks.

A) First the question of applying super glue to bond the mask to the blade. You will remember that I suggested using a needle to pierce holes in the mask to allow the super glue to more easily saturate the paper and flow between mask and blade. What I did not remember to say was that because of these little holes it is not necessary to first apply super glue to the back of the paper mask. One can simply place the mask in position and then apply the glue to the front side of the paper mask. The super glue will flow through the holes and effect a bond anyway.

B) The second bit of information is that in addition to being able to scrape back unwanted glue which has seeped out of the mask, it is also possible to carefully cut away little scraps of the paper mask should you find it necessary. Naturally, you will want do this after the super glue has set up, but do not wait too long as the stuff gets a bit harder over time. For this I use a small hobby knife with those break-off, disposable blades (the type one snaps off to reveal a fresh point). If you use a deft hand and do not apply too much pressure you will be pleased to find that these hobby knives are sharp enough and pointy enough to cut through the paper of the mask without scratching the metal of the straight razor... or at least that has been my experience. In this I am trusting that the hardness of the cheap hobby knife blade is lower than the hardness of the steel in the straight razor. But do be careful about this. Especially on older razors this may not be the case. When in doubt, test your knife against the straight razor blade steel in some discrete location where a scratch won't matter (along the side of the tang next to the pivot hole, for instance).

C) Last of all, I forgot to point out that the super glue bonded mask appears to be unaffected by the heat which is generated during the buffing process. That is to say that I didn't detect any softening or loosening of the mask even when the blade had become rather warm from the friction of the buffing wheel. I am assuming that this secure bond will still hold at any reasonable levels of heat. I am also guessing that any level of heat that affects the bond will probably already have spoiled the temper of the blade. But try to keep that heat down in any case.

- Ignatz