Thread: Please help with pitting

Welcome gentlemen,

I am working on putting a small straight for my maid to as good shape as possible. Overall shape can be seen here.

The problem I have is that I can't reach the pits and stains on the blade. I am not determined to remove them all, but I want to remove the black from the pits and buff them. I worked with 500, 1000 and 2000 sanding paper and then felt wheel with polishing compound, but the 500 didn't affect the pits much and neither did the polish.

What do I need to make it? I was thinking about brass or steel brushes, or maybe I should get some coarser polishing/sanding paste? Or should I start with coarser paper in the first place?

regards,
Matt

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Try grit 80 and move up progressively.

Hand sanding is a very time consuming method of removeing pitting. I woul try coarser grits of sand paper. I will start as low as 220 I find that going lower its difficult to remove the coarser grit sanding marks. Then sand your way up to 1000 grit if your going to follow up with buffing.
As far as buffing goes start with emery buffing compound with a sissel buffing wheel and follow with stainless buffing compound on a spirel sewn cotton buffing wheel then follow up with Maas or flitz metal polish by hand.
*NOTE: keep razors edge alway pointed in the direction of the rotation of your buffer. Other wise it will catch and go flying can be very dangerous.
Also while buffing do not over heat your razor other wise you will screw up the temper and the razor is garbage.

Thanks folks.

I tried 80 and indeed the scratches it left are pretty deep in some places, but what's actually worse - I was still unable to get rid of the black!

I'll probably try abrasive buff and metal brushes with my Dremel, it's the only tool I have. Or if they don't do the job, I'm planning to try progressive grits of pastes - 120, 300 and 600.

regards,
Matt

One of these might do the trick for you:

3M CHIM Partner Support Site : 3M™ Spot Sanding Pen, 03181, 24 per case

If you search around on this site you'll find some other posts where they talk about using these pens.

hand sanding hard steel is a task that will test just how much you want the mirror finish. really figger on 15 hours or more.i found it helps to back the sand paper with a piece of stiff leather the thing is it not the pits you want to sand but the steel around them . if you just work on the pit all you do is make bigger pits, get a pattern going , say 20 spine to edge and then 20 heal to toe. keep the pressure light and let the paper do the work. latter when the pits are gone move to a higher grit and stay with it untill all the scraches left from the frist are gone. i do 220 , 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000. useing power tools on razors is a no no in my book unless your work is water cooled it takes 1 second for a buffer to burn the steel on edges as thin as a razors. there are people iam sure who can do it but you got to ruin a lot of razors to get the skills.latter if i can still feel my fingers i buff with leather and crox. enjoy

Matt I use greaseless compound on cotton polishing mops for such things, starting with 80 grit, then 150, and finnaly 300, I keep a plastic bottle with the top section cut off, full of water by my side, and dip the blade into it at the first hint of overheating, then dry it off with a clean rag, and carry on
I stay on each grit untill I can no longer see the marks from the last one, and go easy, its very very easy to overwork the blade, esp with full hollows, and very esp right near the edge, I have before now worked a blade to death trying to achieve a spotless finish, its worth remembering that these weren't made yesterday, and the odd "age spot" is to me at least, only to be expected now and then.

Another way to go is with Dremels abrasive wheel type things, dont remember what their called, but they come in coarse, medium, and you guessed it fine, work them the same as above, and watch the heat, a bonus with these is that if you get the hang of it you can use the fine one to finish and it leaves a nice satin sheen

Last but by no means least is the good old rotary wire brush, easy does it with this one and the finish while not removing every little pit, leaves the surface very clean indeed, again the lack of shine is very nice.

Remember to always work with the tool rotating away from the edge, or it will catch and make a huge pile of poo out of it, and be careful! razors even when completely dull, are sharp and hard enough to take nasty bites out of your hands.

Hope this brief little post helps Matt?

RESTORE ON!!

Your fellow member "The Infamous Coticule Crew"
Ralfson (Dr)

Thank you gents, I'll have some fresh gear supplies soon, so I'll report back.

cheers,
Matt