Thread: Polishing to mirror?

I have been working on a couple of eBay razors I bought back in December off and on for a while and I have the rust off and I am down to clean metal on both blades. Now I am trying to figure out how to polish them up to mirror with only my dremel tool. Is this possible? In a relatively reasonable amount of time? Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

What have you used on them so far and do you have pictures?

Originally Posted by scottad1

I have been working on a couple of eBay razors I bought back in December off and on for a while and I have the rust off and I am down to clean metal on both blades. Now I am trying to figure out how to polish them up to mirror with only my dremel tool. Is this possible? In a relatively reasonable amount of time? Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

A true mirror finish takes a lot of time. Once I finish the greaseless compounds to get all the pits/stains out I go to hand sanding starting with 400 grit and working my way up to 12,000 grit micromesh. Then I hit them with some white rogue, red rogue, chromium oxide and then Maas to finish up. You can do it with a dremel. If you had sand them to 12000 it may be close enough to stop there.

If you enjoy spending long hours of grueling, tedious work, use your dremel. Otherwise, get a bench grinder/buffer. But, if you MUST use only your dremel, just make sure to have several 1" buffing wheels available for it, and make sure to have several grits of compound (80, 220, 400) then, black emery compound, white, and blue. There is an excellent thread in the wiki with videos about rehabbing a blade. Use the same basic advice and transfer it to your dremel. (Hopefully yours is a corded dremel, or you're going through batteries, my friend

With the dremel, you'll get a pretty nice finish if you use red rouge, chromium oxide, and Maas. I use the Maas three or four times at least to help buff out the final scratches.

No pictures yet, I have used a number of different bitts and the Boker has cleaned up well with very minor pitting but the J. Weiss has moderate pitting that I cant seem to get the dremel to grind out without causing too much heat.

Yes, I am using a corded, variable speed dremel. I will try to use the compounds suggested, thank you much for the help folks, I appreciate the support.

Just to put things into perspective, a mirror finish is THE ULTIMATE; being able to produce a mirror finish on a razor is something that I think most if not all razor restorers would like to be able to do. I am talking no grooves, no scratches, as smooth and as clear as an actual mirror. I have only seen a perfect mirror finish from ONE person, and I doubt there are more than a handful of others who can do it.

Definitely have fun chasing the mirror, but don't drive yourself crazy.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

no grooves, no scratches, as smooth and as clear as an actual mirror

Do you think such a finish would endure the process of shaving a man's face?

When I restore to a mirror finish, I am not happy unless I can count eyelashes. If I see any scratches, I go back to the process..................

Some are happy with a mirror that simply reflects an image..........You have to decide what works for you.

Have fun,

Lynn