sandpaper + steel wool vs wheel for polish & sandpaper + glass vs stone for hone

i am new to restoring str8s and received my first vintage wad & butcher in the mail this week, to be my first restore. not having a buffing wheel or a low grit stone I was wondering how does using progressive grits of sandpaper compare for polishing of the blade? I have 1000, 2000, and 3000 grit papers and a variety of pastes like Flitz. As well I have some 0000 steel wool.

i have read a little about some 'scary sharp' system and i was considering to just spray adhesive onto a sheet of glass the 3 grits of sandpaper to set the bevel and get it ready for my 4/8 norton stone. how does this compare to using a 220/1k norton? is a shapton 1k better then the norton (for about the same price)?

i am soaking the bone scales in neatsfoot oil for 2 days right now and have already taken off the heavy rust and some patina spots with the steel wool. Is already looking good ;)

a second question is regarding the patina on the blade. i have learned this is the dark black spots that are not real rust but are formed by acid over time and serve to protect the blade. while using the steel wool i noticed it doesn't come off very easily and wondered is this something desireable on the blade or is it usually polished off?


Edited: Just got submerged in the thread regarding using a gun part vibrator to restore razors and bought myself a Lyman Turbo Twin Case Tumbler and the requisite Walnuts and Corn Husks... I read another member used Maaz to polish horn scales following a soak in Neatsfoot and then a coat of renaissance. I have no Maaz, but I do have a 2 pound can of Flitz, would that work as well?

Twin Turbo Tumbler arrived today with formula #1 and #2... ran out to the local auto parts store and picked up the pre-requisite turtle wax compound and paste. poured half #1 in with about 3/4 the compound and 3/4 the bag of white powder it came with. ultimately quiet machine but i still haven't figured out how to top it since the cover it came with is not closed but has a plastic grating in it and i really wanted to run it closed for noise and dust reasons. but really there is no noise and no dust so whatever. within an hour the compound is fully mixed in and as i expected it would be a slurry but it is still dry and you can't even tell i poured the bottle of compound in.

time to add 5 blades: 2 ebay specials and 3 gifted from an aunt who's husbands grandfather left that are in serious desperate condition. first smoothed them all down using 600 grit wet paper + grapeseed oil getting the big stuff off. will throw them all in overnight and check in the morning. will be interesting to see if they scratch each other up good or not. don't really care since this is more an experiment for me then anything else. will post pictures...