Thread: soda blasting

thanks Neil. I guess it just comes down to sanding, starting with the heaviest grit and going down to the lightest grip, is that true.I have a blade with some heavy petting and I would like to get it nice and shiny again. This will be my first attempt so any advice is welcome thank you.

Originally Posted by breakofdawn

thanks Neil. I guess it just comes down to sanding, starting with the heaviest grit and going down to the lightest grip, is that true.I have a blade with some heavy petting and I would like to get it nice and shiny again. This will be my first attempt so any advice is welcome thank you.

That's about it. I used to start with around 100 grit wet and dry paper for fairly pitted blades and work up. However, if you start at a higher grit that's no bad thing - if it removes the pitting (takes a loooong time) that's great, if it doesn't seem to touch it you can always drop down in grit size. The worst thing is starting with too aggressive a grit, and introducing worse scratchmarks than pitmarks! Maybe 400 grit is a good 'suck it and see' grade.

Trouble is, you can't just hit the pitted areas, you have to treat the blade equally along its length, as well as the other side. After conventional papers you can go to micromesh and then metal polish. Try to introduce 90 degree angle variation, or at least a slight variation in direction with each grit - it makes it easier to see when the lines from the previous grit have been worked out. For the last few steps changing direction doesn't matter that much.

Try not to get RSI during the many happy hours of sanding that lay ahead of you!

Regards,
Neil