Thread: Blade polishing for a real newb

Have a few blades that were in my dads collection that are generally in good condition but need to be refreshed a bit. I don't want to invest in a bench top or floor buffer yet so what are my options? I have a dremel and polishing wheels as well as air die grinder with polishing attachments. Am I way off target here? Impossible with these tools? If so what is minimum entry for cleaning the blades. They don't have pitting to get through, just surface scratches and such.

Maas metal polish, and a microfiber towel you will very suprised with the results! And of course some elbow grease..

Absolute minimums. Initial clean up/evaluation and final polish: Newspaper with Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish.
Satin to Mirror finish: 800 - 2k wet and dry sandpaper.
Pitting removal to Satin finish: 320 - 600 wet and dry sandpaper.

I really would not suggest using any power tools with a razor unless you have a lot of experience. Besides the abrasives / greaseless compounds are an investment.

Jonathan

Thanks all..

Understood on the power tools.. I was leaning towards the dremel and white compound but the ideal of catching the edger and either destroying the blade or removing a body part... well, you get it.

I have 300 through 1500 wet/dry paper.. use it on a lapping stone to sharper wood chisels scary sharp..

Also have Mother's, Flitz and Simichrome polish.

I'll have a go at doing it by hand. No stranger to elbow grease.

Originally Posted by MikekiM

Thanks all..

Understood on the power tools.. I was leaning towards the dremel and white compound but the ideal of catching the edger and either destroying the blade or removing a body part... well, you get it.

I have 300 through 1500 wet/dry paper.. use it on a lapping stone to sharper wood chisels scary sharp..

Also have Mother's, Flitz and Simichrome polish.

I'll have a go at doing it by hand. No stranger to elbow grease.

Try the Flitz. You will be surprised how much it cleans it up!
You don't want to use the dremel because of the high speeds which can create too much heat!
You can ruin the temper and render the blade USELESS.

I don't want to discourage you from learning in a safe way to use power tools to restore razors.

I do use a Dremel to help with cleaning out pitting, and other tasks. I just practiced on things that would have been hard to break or hurt myself. EDIT: If you hold the razor with some part of your hand behind the area being worked on you will stop before you burn your self. Which is low enough to do no damage to the temper.

Once you are ready to try on a razor get a cheap Gold Dollar razor to abuse. You may even get a good shave from it.

Jonathan

Like others have said..just try some Mothers (what I use for final polish) and a rag to see where that gets you. A Dremel can be a God send or a nightmare depending on the day.

Thanks all.

I checked out the first candidate blade and without doubt needs some attention with the wet/dry first. I'll take some pics along the way. If I can't get the results I want by hand, I'll post back for more help!!

Use WD40 as a lubricant with the wet/dry - it helps to stop it clogging up

Update...

I went at the blade with a progression of 600 through 3000 wet sand paper and then with Simichrome. It came out awesome..Though, I broke the cardinal rule I failed to take pictures of the blade before I started, never thinking it would turn out so good. There are still some marks from the original grinding, but the Rattler Cut Co and blade etching are in perfect condition. An owner somewhere along the way, not too long ago, had chosen to etch the blade with "1991" over the manufacturers etching on the show side and "JP" on the other. That's now gone.

I have a set of inexpensive scales to mount the blade in before sending it out for honing. I can see myself getting hooked on doing this. I have a nice inventory of exotic woods from my old woodworking days..

I'll post some pics of the after (I know, I am a numb-skull for not doing the before), just trying to workout where to pin it.

The pin I have for the pivot is a much smaller diameter than the hole in the blade.. How tight should that tolerance be? Is this a case where the hole needs to be filled and redrilled or does the pinning process and the spacers tighten things enough?