What's new

Hand sanding...it sounded like a good idea..

Ok so I got my hands on a few vintage blades and attempted to start hand sanding them. I have never wet sanded anything before. I bought grits from 80 up to 2000. I have read a few threads and heard some guys advise not to move on to the next grit until the scratches from the previous grit are gone. My question is if each grit creates new scratches how do I know when the scratches from the last grit are out? I have been wetting the blade and the sandpaper and going to town. I got up to 1500 grit. The blade is shiny but alot of scratches so I am assuming I have to go through the grits again.

Can you guys give me any good tips for hand sanding so I can get a mirror finish. Should I use just water or some sort of oil? Should I sand in circular motions or just back and forth? And what about the scratches..how do I know if the scratches I see are from the new grit or the old? Any help is really appreciated!! Thanks fellas!
 
Can you guys give me any good tips for hand sanding so I can get a mirror finish.

Sand from spine to edge/edge to spine and make sure each time you progress in grits you don't move on to the next one before you have the scratches smoothed out. In other words, when you go from 400 to 600, make sure you have it smoothed out as far as it can go before you move on to the 800. If you don't, you are going to have to go back to the 600 and start over.
 
The easiest way to determine if you got all the scratches out from the previous grit is to sand id different directions with each grit. So if you start sanding parallel with the blade with one grit, then you're ready to move up sand perpendicular to the other grit, so spine to edge. It's tough to do on a small blade like a straight so you can also try a circular motion. Then next grit parallel, etc etc. You can also look into getting some micro mesh or polishing cloths I have some from 3M. I have ones that go up to 8000 grit.
 
I sand in circles. When I'm ready to move up grits I sand in one direction until I have only those directional scratches left. If you use oil when sanding (which is a good idea) you might need to wipe it off to get a good look.
 
Hand sanding to a mirror finish is serious work. Satin finish is better. Sand in one direction until the finish is even and stop. You need to start at one point off the blade and go all the way off the blade at your stopping point. If deep scratches remain in any direction other than your finishing direction they the will show plainly.

If you want mirror finish you need to go to compounds to finish.

Phil
 
You've been giving some great advice. Motor oil works very well with wet/dry sandpaper for hand sanding. Definitely check your progress as you go and DO NOT move forward until all of the scratches from the previous step are gone. If you can alternate direction it will make a big difference as well.

A piece of stiff foam or rubber used as a backing for the sandpaper can also make a big difference in getting a good finish.

Other than that, be patient and enjoy the process. The results can be amazing.

Charlie
 
hand sanding is alot of work, and takes time...
but i love the results...
here's a blade of mine...
started with 120 and went up to 2000
all with water. maybe 12 hours of work...
will be a mirror whine once i polish with maas, dremel, etc...
go for it!
 

Attachments

  • $q.jpg
    53.7 KB · Views: 187
thank you guys for all the tips...I don't know what I would do without this forum! I started the grits again and I am alternating directions with each grit which is definitely making it easier. We shall see how it goes. Thanks again fellas!
 
hand sanding is alot of work, and takes time...
but i love the results...
here's a blade of mine...
started with 120 and went up to 2000
all with water. maybe 12 hours of work...
will be a mirror whine once i polish with maas, dremel, etc...
go for it!

You wore out the fingers of your glove with all that hand sanding!
:biggrin1:
 
Top Bottom