Thread: Note for those hand sanders-

Hey all!

I thought that I might post a quick note for those guys that are just getting starting into straight restorations.

When I started restoring straight razors about 3 years ago, I did not have access to a lot of tools, and being a student, money was fairly tight. So I, as many others, turned to hand sanding my blades. As many of the experts on this site will tell you, hand sanding your blades is in no way "wrong" or "bad", but it isn't exactly the fastest way of getting the job done.

So I want to mention something that will really help you guys out. BUY A DREMEL. They are not very expensive at all. If you are restoring a razor that has pitting, you are going to have to remove a substantial amount of metal for the razor. By all mean, take this metal off by hand, but if you do have a dremel, you can get flapwheels for them; which are money in the bank if you ask me.

I usually use a 120 grit flapwheel. I turn my dremel to almost full speed and the sparks fly off very easily.

I haven't found a way to use the dremel to finish the entire process, but you can use the 120 grit flapwheel to quickly (relatively) remove the metal that you need to shed to get down to good metal. Once that job is done, you can continue to happily hand sand with your normal progression, knowing that you have saved HOURS by using the dremel to get the bulk of the job done faster.

Also, if you buy (for about 5 bucks CAD) a cotton dremel buffing wheel- not a disk- you can load it up with mothers mag & chrome polish and get the job of buffing to mirror finish done in a triffle. On my most recent razor, it took me only about 30 minutes with the mothers/dremel wheel combo to get the blade to a mirror finish.

For those of you that knew this already, sorry to bore you, but I sure wish I had known this little tip before spending 9 hours painfully sanding the pitting out of my wedges.

I think the worst advise you could give someone starting to "restore" is to buy a dremel. no offence..
Dremels are dangerous, and 120 grit is entirely too low to begin sanding unless you have MAJOR pitting ...

I am a believer in sweat equity, however if you went to work for 9 extra hours (considering your time is valuable) you could likely pay to have your razor done professionally... or be well on the way to saving up for the proper tools while practicing your polishing skills.

Again, no offence intended... Haste makes waste.

Old67

Some use a Dremel to great affect, but epd has a point. They require alot more safety care. Use as long as it serves you. Keep all your body parts intact.

I have to agree with epd.
Stick to the hand sanding until you are ready to move up to the bench grinder with the greaseless compounds.
I did the dremmel thing and killed 2 blades and I was being careful.

Dremel= the tool of the devil,But I actually used one last night,wife do's all sorts of custom jewelry stuff,used a dental burr to drill a hole in a mabe (SP) pearl,worked pretty well.
Only other thing I use via dremel is a SS wire wheel after recuttng jimps.

OK i have used a dremel from time to time... mine is normally mounted on their "drill press" stand or has the flexible wand attached they are OK tools but not always the best. one issue with high speed and flap wheels is potentially over heating the blade, a silly waste of a razor, also you can quickly chip and even crack the blade with the shank of the tool. if you are using one set it to the slowest speed and take your time. if you search here on the forum you will probably find a guide to making your own high grit drums and i think even flap wheels. yes many of us have experimented, but as always, slow and steady is better than quick and dangerous.

Due to living space restrictions, I do not have the option of a full sized workshop. So I started with a dremel using homemade sanding drums per threads here on SRP... have stepped up to using 1" stitched muslin buffing wheels with greaseless compounds with great success... and I have never looked back. For example: exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C, exhibit D.

IMHO saying a dremel is dangerous to a just-getting-started restorer is as poor a piece of advice, if not poorer, than not saying it. Reason being that it can easily lead a beginner to assume a full size bench grinder with greaseless compounds is easy in comparison when, in reality, it can be just as dangerous and damaging without practice.

I think the more appropriate thing to say is that either route can work brilliantly if practiced first. And either route can fail spectacularly if not practiced first.

As others have already alluded to in this thread, the key with either is to practice, practice, and practice more until you:

1. Get a feel for how each grit your working with will behave
2. Learn to stay focused and ensure you the rotation of the polishing wheel is spinning away from the 'shaving' edge of the blade so it won't grab it and destroy the edge, shred the wheel, or send the razor (or shards of it) flying
3. Get in the habit of regularly dip the blade in a cool cup of water to avoid over heating it and ruining its temper

Regardless of whether you use a dremel tool or a bench grinder, the result you get out of it will be directly proportional to the amount of practice you put into it.

Just my humble two cents...

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

Just to throw out my 2 cents,

I too began restores using a combo of hand sanding, hand drill mounted buffing wheels and a Dremel.

I have had successes, and radical failures. I endured over heating, chipping edges and launching razors into walls, and cut fingers and hands.

My advice to the beginner is to make your own mistakes, but I will not use a hand held spinning tool against a free standing piece of sharp steel ever again. I can get great results without risking life and limb.

Remember, I said I too tried all of the above, but finally returned to the tried and true method of slowly hand sanding them, with a finishing polish on a bench buffer at slow speed. I find I just don't need that 'perfect' shine anymore. I only restore razors I plan on keeping and using anyway.

If I'm in that big of a hurry, something is wrong with this picture. I've ruined too many razors with my dremel to take the chance anymore.

As I said, just my 2 cents. But, I did indeed try all those methods, as Glen can attest, since he helped me remove a dremel chip off a very expensive razor just last July.!

M

LOL Thats right Mike, I forgot that Puma was a Dremel bite we fixed

BTW there are pics of that someplace on here