scales and sanding

Two questions here involving restore work. Thus far I've seen a ton of information regarding restoring the blade but many times I see old blades that can be restored accompanied by scales that just look worn down or dirty but not cracked or anything.

Is there a wiki or anything showing how to clean them up? Is it something you need to remove the blade to do?

Second, I have been reading this over Hand sanding a blade - Straight Razor Place Wiki and I'm wondering if there is a pressure threshold when sanding with a "Bruno Sanding Stick." With some blades it seems almost like they will break when you put just a little bit of pressure on the side of the blade. Is it normally safe to use this method or am I misunderstanding how it works?

Thanks guys!

It's always better to do a proper job if you can remove the blade to restore the scales..but you need to be careful unpinning...if you don't know what you're doing you'll wreck the scales. You can always try gently sanding them or even using a polish to clean them up..I use Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish. For sanding it's a judgement call..you just have to remember that too much pressure is going to damage something..it's hard to describe really.