Shop Trick #735

[BillEllis]

Some of you may think it's okay to use your fingers to sand the hollows of a straight razor blade in an attempt to restore it. Your fingers are too soft and it can create uneveness in the overall appearance of your finished work. You should alway try to use a jig or template of some type to aid in getting it done the right way the first time around.

If you have my cd, there are a couple options for you to use to make the boring task a little more tolerable. This shop trick is another method for you to use.

Always remember to use the least aggressive method of addressing the surface of the blade first. If that doesn't work, bump it up a notch.

Go to the hardware store and buy about one foot of 7/8-inch ID rubber tubing for a dishwasher. Cut off 5 inches, or thereabout. Then cut another piece about one inch long. Remove about a 3/4 inch section of the small piece to be used as a pressure-type clamp on the outside edge of the tubing that will hold the sandpaper in place. (pic 1)

Cut strips of sandpaper about 1 1/2 inches wide or experiment with what works good for you. This is a suggestion and not a hardfast measurement. Wrap the sandpaper around the circumference of the tubing and use the spare piece to hold the sandpaper in place as you sand the hollow of the blade. (pic 2 and 3)

Hold the hose and sandpaper so that it does not cause fatigue while you are using it. (pic 4) As the sandpaper wears away on the edge that contacts steel, rotate it around the circumference of the hose and then reposition the outer band of rubber to hold in in place. Once the entire edge of the sandpaper has been used up, remove it and cut away an eighth inch or so away so that you have fresh grit on the same piece of sandpaper strip that you were using. Reposition the paper and repeat the process until the sandpaper becomes unusable.

For heavily pitted blades, I'd suggest starting with 220/240 grit, then go to 400, 600, and then 1,000. At that stage you can consider the final blade finish and use the appropriate tools to achieve it. Shop-roll sandpaper works real good because it is normally a bit thicker and has a good working surface. You can get it in different grits at hardware stores and auto stores.

[SRock]

Bill, you truly are a magician at your craft!

[pablo_h]

Great tip.
Safer that doing it by hand as well.

[Mr_Eval]

great tip.
Safer that doing it by hand as well.

niiiice

[davecmu]

Great tip.
Safer that doing it by hand as well.

So much for lunch... :001_unsur

[SavantStrike]

Bill that is an awesome tip. Thanks for sharing!

I read your blog entry about making scales and it was all I needed to get up the guts to decide to do it someday in the not too distant future. This will make cleaning blades easier too!

[Seraphim]

I love the clip for the sandpaper! Brilliant!

[Hawkeye5]

Thanks Bill. Another trick to add to the book.

[thirdeye]

That is a great tip Bill. Thanks again for all your awesome help. You are one of few true craftsmen around.....:thumbup1:

[gugi]

that's great stuff. and free of charge too :001_smile

[netsurfr]

Wow! That is one of those tips where you say, now why didn't I think of that Thanks for sharing!!!

[Fnord5]

Nice! I am going to have to try that when I get some free time, I have about 5 blades that need a good sanding.


And Bill, don't take this as an insult or anything, but the razor in your jig, is that a Double Arrow? :eek:

Are you fixin' to upstage Seraphim with a little RRD? (razor reworking disorder)

[BillEllis]

Nice! I am going to have to try that when I get some free time, I have about 5 blades that need a good sanding.


And Bill, don't take this as an insult or anything, but the razor in your jig, is that a Double Arrow? :eek:

Are you fixin' to upstage Seraphim with a little RRD? (razor reworking disorder)Yes, it is a Double Arrow. I don't think I'd ever to be able to offer any opinions of them if I didn't find out for myself first. I have only modified that ugly blade tip so far. I gotta test to see how sharp it gets before I donate too much time on making it look better.

It's been on my workbench for a couple months now. I figure that sooner or later I'll get tired of looking at it and finally do something with the experiments. I never look at my projects as a form of upstaging anyone, though. I actually like it better if they upstage me... that's when I'll try a bit harder to better my work the next time around.

Believe me, there are some boys out there who could upstage just about anybody if they wanted to. Rick Eaton (http://www.eatonknives.com/) has the talent to slay every one of us put together. I don't want to get too far off subject, but here is an example of his work.

[Fnord5]

I eagerly await your opinion on them.

Going to have to go grab some of that hose on my next trip to the hardware store though.

And I may have to buy one of those jigs too once I get caught up with some bills. :blushing:

[RoyalKooparillo]

Cool trick, Bill. Very helpful. I think I'm getting carpal tunnel from all this darn hand sanding.

[stnlymumford]

Genius

[AceBuckeye]

Great tip Bill, thanks for sharing

[pal]

Great Tip!

[just1nsturm]

I've gotta try that on my next restore. Thanks for the tip!

[Sullybob]

Thanks for sharing this Bill.

[ShaneC]

Believe me, there are some boys out there who could upstage just about anybody if they wanted to. Rick Eaton (http://www.eatonknives.com/) has the talent to slay every one of us put together. I don't want to get too far off subject, but here is an example of his work.

:w00t: oh dear god those are pricey! :biggrin:


But they are impressive.... Just...WOW

[Seraphim]

Nice! I am going to have to try that when I get some free time, I have about 5 blades that need a good sanding.


And Bill, don't take this as an insult or anything, but the razor in your jig, is that a Double Arrow? :eek:

Are you fixin' to upstage Seraphim with a little RRD? (razor reworking disorder)

I think it's funny...I didn't even notice the razor when I was looking at the pic, I was checking out Bill's sanding thingamajig. You'd think I, of all people would at least have recognized one of my beloved DAs!:001_smile

[3fa]

awesome Bill, i was just looking for something like this
:biggrin:

[TstebinsB]

:w00t: oh dear god those are pricey! :biggrin:


But they are impressive.... Just...WOW
Although they are on the pricey side, it's not as unreasonable as you might think. In Japan, knives of that skill and creativity sell for that much and more.

[ShaneC]

In Japan, knives of that skill and creativity sell for that much and more.

But I live near a Wal-Mart :biggrin:

Honestly, I don't claim to know crap about knives, especially not the "art knives" or whatever they're called. But they sure are nice.

[fatpanda]

This is awesome, Thanks.

I have a question. Will the curvature of the tube be ok to use when sanding a wedge that has a flat(er) surface?

[ryrelav]

Thank you Bill.:biggrin:

[BillEllis]

Bump for all the guys who have just started restoring and had not spotted this.

[Pumpkin]

Bill, thanks for the bump and the Trick/Tip :001_smile I've been using a scrap of balsa, but the tubing looks much more practical.

[Freedom]

Cheers for the bumps on ingenious posts, the tips really make a difference and it is also part of the skill/experience, if you have a problem think of a way out of it then think of cheap ways to make that happen.

[Toff]

Thanks Bill! for another way to do a job with less hassle!
Respectfully
~Richard

[azmark]

Fine work Bill!

[kg4ghn]

We need to get a sticky of all of Bill's threads.

Every so often one of these old threads comes up and it's just awesome to see how stuff actually happens.