Tight-Quarters hand-sanding

I started removing the pitting on the Tonsorial Gem that just arrived today. Since it's a very delicate grind (gives a clean sound when I strum it) I decided to hand-sand it. Unfortunately it seems impossible to get those vertical lines left from grinding (if I remember it correctly, they're stabilizers?) nice and clean. The sooner I get some working tips (Vlad? Bill? Jason?) the sooner I can post pics of the finished product. :D

P.S. While we're on this project, the scales appear to be bone. I don't know what a dunking in bleach would do to them, so what would be a good way to properly disinfect the whole shabang without harming the metal/bone?

Thank you in advance gentlemen.

To clean the shoulder, I usually fold the sandpaper into a narrow pointy wedge and sand with a lot of pressure. Also, try using a needle in there.

Redwoood

I found this really hard as well. Sanding by hand I could get it clean but because to get into that corner you really could only sand up and down there were scratch marks that were really hard to get out. I'm guessing that with a tool like dremmel that this could be achieved quite easily. :shrug:
Sorry... no suggestions here, just sympathy :D

Hrmmm. So far on the limited number of razors I've restored, I've never had any striations in it that I couldn't get rid of. Though, I don't always removed every single last tiny one. Having said that, the lowest grit I'll usually start at is 220; or, 180 if I decide to use the dremel sanding discs.

This is probably just (re)stating the obvious, but sanding across the previous striations gets rid of them more effectively and usually more thoroughly, though, not neccessarily more quickly. No doubt that on some spots of the razor there isn't much room to sand perpendicular to the previous grit. So sanding with, or at a slight angle too them is likely what is neccessary.

To sand the shoulder (and other tight angled areas) I usually use one of the plain pink erasers to help. I just fold the paper around the end and use the bevel to get in there. The great thing about the pink erasers is they're cheap and shapable. Just use a knife, or even rough surface, to shape the eraser to whatever contour you need. On one end of the erasers I have, I just rounded it out so that it fits the contour of the grind nicely. It's also just at the right softness so that when mixed with some elbow grease, it does the job nicely.

This is really just thinking out loud and it must be noted I haven't tried it. But for those hard to get at places, it may be worth trying to use a slurry of a coarse pumice and water, and an old toothbrush. Then if needed, perhaps you could finish it with the toothbrush and a series of progressively finer diamond pastes.

I've heard there's a CD out that will cover all that and more...:D

In tight quarters the idea is to find some tool or object that will fit into the space and just wrap the sanding medium around it so it will contour right into the work area. The eraser idea sounds like a winner to me.

As far as the scales go I wouldn't use bleach. I would just use some anti-bacterial soap and some Q-tips and scrub them down real good with plenty of soap and hot water. You could then use something like cape cod polishing cloths to both polish up the blade as well as the scales.

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Originally Posted by urleebird

I've heard there's a CD out that will cover all that and more...:D

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Now you don't mean the one made by that guy bill... whats his name do you?

And it looks like a part of my next paycheque will be going his way ;)