Thread: Cleaning by hand

Hello all,

What is the best way to clean a blade by hand? without and specially purchased tools. I intend to get set up eventually so that I can do full restorations but right now, I don't have the time or the space. I have 1 brand new razor and 2 old ones. I would like to know how to get the old ones looking nice and shiny. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

Pete

A set of wet and dry automotive sandpaper in various grits ranging from 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000. A soft cloth and some metal polish of your choice; Simichrome, Maas(my faves), Flitz, Mothers, etc. This little arsenal will do just about anything.

A dental pick will come in handy as well as some unwaxed dental floss.

......and a big dose of patience.

Once armed with the papers Nun2 recommended read this:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ing-howto.html

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

A set of wet and dry automotive sandpaper in various grits ranging from 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000. A soft cloth and some metal polish of your choice; Simichrome, Maas(my faves), Flitz, Mothers, etc. This little arsenal will do just about anything.

A dental pick will come in handy as well as some unwaxed dental floss.

And don't forget popcicle sticks to get nice and flat between the scales.

On really oxidized blades My progression is 220-400-600-800-1000-1500-2000-4000-mother's polish. Remember to get out all of the scratches of the previous grit before you move to the next higher grit. Here's what I do regarding that:
Sand whichever direction I need to to get the oxidation off and pits out. Then, when I think I'm ready to go up to the next grit, I make witness scratches perpendicular to the blade edge. These witness scratches go all over the blade face, spine, and tang. Up and down. I make sure the entire blade is covered with them 100%. Then I start the next grit going lengthwise on the blade. When you can turn it all around in the light and can't find any scratches going perpendicular to the edge, you will know that you've gotten all the previous grit scratches out. Then make witness lines with the current grit. Each time after you make the witness lines, take it over to the sink and wash it with soap and water to ensure there is no leftover grit on the blade.

The take away point from my long winded approach to talking is this: remove the scratches from the previous grit before you move up. If you don't you'll regret it. A couple a pictures to prove my points.

My first restore. See how the blade has scratches in it? I didn't go high enough with the grit (only 1000) and I didn't get all the scratches out before I moved up. A couple of those are 400 grit scratches, which means the whole blade has to be taken back to that level to be fixed.


My John Barber I did. It's even better than this now. This was taken after 2000 grit. Now it's at 4000 with mothers polish. I use the witness lines to good effect on this blade.


Also used witness lines on this blade. But much harder since I wanted to leave the oxidation on the blade face.


Feel free to pm me or ignore any or all of this post as well.

'Just commenting about the high quality of the help in this thread. 'Never ceases to amaze me. Thank You, Gents.

A plethora of hints and help reside in this thread it is in red at the top of this forum "The workshop" should you need it again

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

Also although you will find it in there anyway, a trick to a really nice glow on the finish when hand-sanding is to use WD-40 on the grits above 400 after you dry sand, then wet the razor with WD-40 (or any light oil) and re-sand using the same piece of sandpaper...

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys. Just had a go at my first blade. Picked it up today for £5/$8.14. It wasn't too bad. The scales were original I think but very tatty and the blade was very dull with some rust and pitting. I pulled the scales off (and found a ton of ginger hair between them near the wedge!!!) and got to work. I worked thorough a number of grades of paper up 2500. The result is not the best by any means but, I'm happy with it so far. There is still some pitting present so I may go back and do it all again to see if I can get rid of it. I couldn't find my metal poish either so I couldn't give it a final polish. The blade is marked on the tank with "KRICO 1642" on one side and "Forged and Hollow, Ground in Germany" on the other. There was a stamp on the blade but the sanding has pretty much removed it and I can't remember what it said but it was a circle in a circle and I think it said Sofine at the top and it had what looked like a "W" in the middle. But, I'm guessing now!!!. Making some scales will be my next move if I don't go back to re-sand it

Thanks

Pete