Thread: How can you tell when all the scratches from a previous grit are gone?

Sorry, noob question, but I'm having a really hard time distinguishing between 220 and 320 scratches and I'm afraid of over-sanding and affecting the shape of the blade. Any tips/tricks from you pros?

When you finish sanding with a grit, sand 90 degrees to the direction that you normally sand.
When you start the next grit, sand like normal 'til those are gone, and then go 90 degrees to get reference scratches for the next grit.

The easiest way is to alter the sanding orientation between each successive grit. Sand 220 from heel to toe, then sand 320 from spine to edge. This makes it much easier to see when the lower grit scratches are completely gone, and don't even think about moving to the next grit until those scratches are completely gone!

Originally Posted by Utopian

The easiest way is to alter the sanding orientation between each successive grit. Sand 220 from heel to toe, then sand 320 from spine to edge. This makes it much easier to see when the lower grit scratches are completely gone, and don't even think about moving to the next grit until those scratches are completely gone!

This is great advice. I did the same way with progression from 120-240-280-320-400-500-600-800-1000-1200-1500-2000. After that I did polishing with polishing paste (3000 grit) and finally with aluminia oxide.