Thread: 3 Razors, want to clean them up myself

Originally Posted by tekbow

Any idea on how to get in between jimps?

You can use sanding bands. I forget the proper name for them but they're a little thinner than a piece of yarn and made for sanding. I think Rockler or that type of place carries them. You might also be able to make do with a stiff nylon bristle brush (the kind used for gun cleaning), or even some metal polish and dental floss if you have time and are patient.

To clean between the jimps, I use one of those brass brushes that are made for cleaning the dirt off of golf club irons. They generally only run a couple of dollars and last a long time.

Well, been at it since the last post with a break for some Battlestar Galactica.

Not altogether syre with the quality of these pics you can see a difference, but I'm up to 600 now and its get satinier by the pass.

Obviously i'm not going to stick a pic up after every progression for every razor but am pleased with the results compared to how it was..



quite zen this sanding thing, little circles, up and down across, up and down, across, wet, dry, wet, dry... all work and no play makes jack a dull boy...

For the love of God.. it seems 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper exsists nowhere in edinburgh.. the highest the auto supply shops do is 1200..

My fingers are really sore this morning for some reason..

That, sir....is already a world of difference. Good for you.

go to Lee Valley Tools They may ship oversees, and you can buy any grit of the 3M wet/dry by the sheet.

Really nice work so far....no pain, no gain.

Cheers Maxi

Have found a place finally that does 1500 and 2000 local, in packets, so i'm gona get those.

I replied to your PM but theres no sign of it in my outbox or sent items.. Am sure i hit send and not cancel. Anyway, cheers for the advice, am looking into it, was much appreciated

Simon

Looking great so far, tekbow.

What are your thoughts about the final polishing stage?

Well, this is an experiment in handsanding, seeing what i can do with the bare minimum of tools and kit. I have no buffers or such, so it's basically going to be up to 2000 grit (i believe there's a 3k out there), then a Q-tip (cotton bud to us brits) with autosol ( i don't know if you have this in the states but it's a auto metal polish) and lots more little circles and elbow grease. To be honest i'm not totally happy with this at the minute, can't tell from the pics, but there's some early stage scratches still lightly visible. This is why i stopped at 600 last night because i'd been at it all day and was starting to lose concentration or perhaps settle for less. I'm about to start in again wet on the 800 grit.

My aim here is to see if i can successfully restore these to the the level of cleanliness and usability i see some resto's on here for my own personal use. I have a one bedroom flat in edinburgh, no space for grinders, buffers sadly. If successful, it enriches the pastime as a whole, and means i can get satisfaction out of picking up ebay specials and making them useable.

I've looked for autosol briefly. I've seen some photos of it in action here on the forum and it seems to do a better job on deep patina than the Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish I have - that's available everywhere around here.

I don't have a bench buffer either, but was able to use a buffing wheel, a cordless drill, a vise and some of the white polishing compound sticks to bring a mirror finish to a $5 Regeldso I worked on a while back, so there are always options for us 'toolroom challenged' hobby guys. lol

I'm very interested to see how the autosol does after your 2000 grit. Looking forward to more images.

Another thing that will help, is WD 40.

When you're sanding, starting at 800.....do a dry pass with 800 for a while, and then finish with a wet pass lubed up with the WD40. Continue this method of dry - wet through to 2000. It gives a really nice low sheen/glow at the end.