Thread: Note for those hand sanders-

Personally I view it similar to the way we shave. I want to do it right and I want to enjoy the process. The other day I took a rusted genco and brought it to shine by hand. And it wasn't in that bad of shape so an hour with power tools and it would've been done. But I enjoyed the process in bringing it back to life. I'm not saying I'll never use power tools if I ever try to work on a chipped blade or something major. But for a standard antique shop or eBay find I'll stick to hand sanding.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Amazingly no one recomends buffers to beginners, only Dremels and the like..

Simple fact, fast spinning tools by sharp fagile tempered steel is a dangerous thing.

In the OP's defense he said "Wedge" razors which as we all know are much easier and safer to work on, but we all know that any beginner reading this probably missed that or didn't know that until I just mentioned it..


There is no sense in arguing one way or another what is good or what is bad no Newb will listen awyway, and you all know better

IIRC, both Lynn and bill ellis demonstrate using dremels in their restoration DVDs, which is why so many try them out.
dremels have lots of other uses and are probably easier to convince SWMBO that you need one then say a buffer which she will be unlikely to find many tasks for you to use it on.
an nice sanding jig is very useful and i have found that curved molding can be made into better sanding blocks than a simple sponge, but that is just me.

Wow I didn't expect to start such a thread!

I take no offence, I should mention, from those people posting contrary ideas to mine. I know what works for me, and I have had nothing but success with my dremel and flapwheel. I'm embarrassed that there seems to be such a resounding negativity towards my process though...

I approach it in a very methodical manor, and I do it all free hand. I can feel the pressure, feel the heat in the blade, and can visibly see the sparks coming off. To my mind, nothing could be safer for myself and safer for the blade. I agree 100 percent that a wheel is ideally the way to go, but when you live in residence at a university, space and noise are of great concern.

I was not trying to say that this set up is the best, easiest, or safest. If you read what I wrote it says nothing of the sort. The only idea I was trying to propose is that it helps a lot if you are a hand sander. I also think that, just like shaving itself, it all depends what feels right to you.

I will attach a picture at the end of this post showing what I can do with nothing but a dremel. It might not impress you to death, but nobody is going to say i ruined the blade or did a poor job. This is my daily shave, or will be now that the resto is all done. It needn't be perfect, and I'll happily admit that it isn't professional quality work- but for a 21 year old who views it as functional art, it is more than good enough.

Thanks for all the input guys. My only other word on the subject would be to encourage people to try using a dremel at least once. I started with a higher grit flapwheel, but moved to the 120 after I got a feel for it. Figure out what works best for you, or just get a wheel if you have the space. To me, it beats hand sanding all the pitting out of the blade.


(Just demonstrating my point. Just telling all the dremel denouncers that with practice, you can get a mirror finish with a free hand and a flapwheel.)

Originally Posted by Old67

Wow I didn't expect to start such a thread!

I take no offence, I should mention, from those people posting contrary ideas to mine. I know what works for me, and I have had nothing but success with my dremel and flapwheel. I'm embarrassed that there seems to be such a resounding negativity towards my process though...

Thanks for all the input guys. My only other word on the subject would be to encourage people to try using a dremel at least once. I started with a higher grit flapwheel, but moved to the 120 after I got a feel for it. Figure out what works best for you, or just get a wheel if you have the space. To me, it beats hand sanding all the pitting out of the blade.


(Just demonstrating my point. Just telling all the dremel denouncers that with practice, you can get a mirror finish with a free hand and a flapwheel.)

Wow your system huh???

Please run these searches

"Restore, Disaster, Dremel, Razor" and see what others have found

Then go look at some dremel work by a master with the tool "The Topher" from way back on SRP

Have been working on this dremel thing all day,had some crop failures but I shall overcome and master this pricision tool,off to the razor safe.I have some N.O.S fillys that need a buff,back in a flash.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Wow your system huh???

Please run these searches

"Restore, Disaster, Dremel, Razor" and see what others have found

Then go look at some dremel work by a master with the tool "The Topher" from way back on SRP

Sounds like I might have hit a nerve? Sorry if I upset you man, really. Also though, read back. I never called it "my system." Not once. I did say that I was shocked that people had a problem with "my method," meaning the way I described the work I did. I'm not trying to sound like I pioneered anything. This is not ground breaking work, its all been done before and I am completely aware of that.

I don't really care to run those searches. I thank you for pointing out the potential for disaster; you raise some extremely good points and I don't argue with any of them. I'm not actively trying to anger people here, I was just pointing out that dremels can be a very useful tool. If you don't believe me, that's not my concern- don't use them for all I care. I'm not even trying to say its the best way. In the thread I posted when I finished this razor, I freely admit that it is nowhere near as good as the professionals razors. I am not a pro and I don't pretend to be. All I was trying to do was pass along some advice on a tool which has produced for me some good results.

It works for me every time. If you are careful, it can work for you too. Just passing on some information- don't worry though, I won't be making that mistake again.

Originally Posted by Old67

Sounds like I might have hit a nerve? Sorry if I upset you man, really. Also though, read back. I never called it "my system." Not once. I did say that I was shocked that people had a problem with "my method," meaning the way I described the work I did. I'm not trying to sound like I pioneered anything. This is not ground breaking work, its all been done before and I am completely aware of that.

I don't really care to run those searches. I thank you for pointing out the potential for disaster; you raise some extremely good points and I don't argue with any of them. I'm not actively trying to anger people here, I was just pointing out that dremels can be a very useful tool. If you don't believe me, that's not my concern- don't use them for all I care. I'm not even trying to say its the best way. In the thread I posted when I finished this razor, I freely admit that it is nowhere near as good as the professionals razors. I am not a pro and I don't pretend to be. All I was trying to do was pass along some advice on a tool which has produced for me some good results.

It works for me every time. If you are careful, it can work for you too. Just passing on some information- don't worry though, I won't be making that mistake again.

Hey, dont worry about all of this, when I began starting to clean up razors I used the dremel, and had excellent results. I never had an issue with flying or broken razors, however at one of our meets I was showing off my collection to Holli when he asked how I cleaned them up, I knew he knew. From that moment on my outlook had changed, I either make those scratch marks go away entirely or leave it alone.
That being said, I already owned a dremel, and im sure I wrecked countless things before I touched it to a razor (or I probably would have wrecked a razor or two).
As someone else put it, we will all make our own mistakes.

On a side note I can see where gssixguns coming from, the search is there for a reason. If 20 people join the site everyday and fill up the topics with new /their/whatever techniques/questions without searching to see that topic has been ubercovered, not only will the newest new guys be reading this new thread via search - but potentially taking yourself and others away from usefull threads - and actually learning something.
Hope that made sense, just my POV, not speaking for anyone else.

I am a fan of a $3 pack of 3M wet dry abrasive paper.
The 1000 grit followed by 2000 grit gets most blades
clean and bright. Then I hand polish a little bit more
each time I rehone the blade knowing that eventually
it will be mirror bright. I am not in a hurry....

Originally Posted by epd

On a side note I can see where gssixguns coming from, the search is there for a reason. If 20 people join the site everyday and fill up the topics with new /their/whatever techniques/questions without searching to see that topic has been ubercovered, not only will the newest new guys be reading this new thread via search - but potentially taking yourself and others away from usefull threads - and actually learning something.
Hope that made sense, just my POV, not speaking for anyone else.

I'm almost certain after the amount of years that this website has been operating almost every topic, question and answer about straight razors has been covered ad nauseum. So, why would we ever have to post anything? Just use search, find the answers to your questions, then search for the answers to the questions which are generated by the answers to your first questions etc...etc...etc...Sorry, I could not resist.

Use a dremmel with dark glasses and near the neck and groin area for maximum effect...