Thread: Getting a Mirror finish

Hi there, Started cleaning my small collection of razors and I've had the same results twice, shown below;



This is a 1935 crown and sword that I cleaned but just can't get rid of these darn scratches. Here's what I did; 400 grit, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 wet/dry sandpaper, 0000 steel wool and then Maas.

here's a couple more pictures to show the scratches;





so there they are, any tips on getting rid of these tiny scratches? or do I need to spend more time on the lower grits?

any help would be greatly appreciated as always


kind regards
alex

Note: on a side note, how's my pics looking? I've seen some bloody good pics of shave of the day and have been tinkering around with my camera to improve my photos.

Hi Alex,

When handsanding a razor the following technique is imo the best.

From 200 grit on, alternate direction. So eastwest on 200, northsourh on 300 etc. Sand until the scratches from the previous grit are gone. This can take long, I usually spend at least an hour per grit. After 2000 grit there should be almost no visible scratches. Then you can finish with a polishingcompound like maas.

Ah that might be my problem, not spending enough time on the lower grits. I spent around half an hour on each grit.

What could I do for this razor? The pictures make the scratches look a bit more visible than they are. They're really quite fine, Should I maybe go down to 1500 and work up?


regards alex

"Sand until the scratches from the previous grit are gone"

and then sand it longer

and then a little longer.

If you move up a grit too soon, then every moment spent after that is completely wasted.

A perfect mirror finish is VERY difficult to get, so I wouldn't be overly worried about it being perfect.

MY FIRST RESTORE,,NO COMPOUND THIS IS WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE,,,,,,,,NO SUPER HIGH GRIT THOUGH

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...tore-ever.html

thanks for the replies guys, I think maybe I'll leave it as is and make sure I take more time on the next one and I'll be sure to post back with my results.

thanks for the info everybody

kind regards
alex

Not everyone agrees on what it should look like. Some want mirror and some want satin. Some who want mirror settle for satin.

I'd take either, But I did sort of try and highlight the scratches, here's another picture taken - had a bit of a problem with the light, too much, too little bah - and it looks better.



This is probably why I won't buy a razor unless there's more than three pictures on eBay

but I'm happy with this one, I'll just need to spend some more time on my other 12

If you are alternating vertical and horizontal strokes between grits, try to plan ahead and have the final sanding be vertical--running between the spine and the edge. That way residual scratches look more like original grinding marks.