So I have been buying beaters on e-bay to practice honing. Recently I got a Ludo Red Imp, that was absolutely black on the tang and tail (first photo). I then tried cleaning it up. I mainly used a Dremel with a felt cloth wheel loaded with abrasive. I tried red, green and white rouge in various spots as well as 1u diamond paste. I also tried some hand sanding with various grits 400-2500. I did NOT use a sandpaper wheel on the Dremel. When I started the surface of the tang and tail were flat. When I had gotten down to clean metal, it was clear that the surfaces were not flat, particularly on the tail (2nd photo).
So my question:
Was the contoured surface caused by me grinding away too much material with the Dremel, or is this really just a function of how deep the oxidation had penetrated into the metal? Or perhaps a little of both?
If this is nature at work, so be it. If it is really all me and there is a better way to clean up the razor, open to suggestions. Better to learn now, before I mangle something I care about! One bit of good news - while it isn’t obvious from the 1st photo, there was much less oxidation on the blade itself, so really haven’t had to do any real cleanup there. Even if I did something evil to the tail, it shouldn’t impact shaving capability.
Follow-up question: The thing that was getting it shiniest was the 1u paste. Will it get shinier if I moved on to smaller particles? At what point is the finish as shiny as it will get to the naked eye?
So my question:
Was the contoured surface caused by me grinding away too much material with the Dremel, or is this really just a function of how deep the oxidation had penetrated into the metal? Or perhaps a little of both?
If this is nature at work, so be it. If it is really all me and there is a better way to clean up the razor, open to suggestions. Better to learn now, before I mangle something I care about! One bit of good news - while it isn’t obvious from the 1st photo, there was much less oxidation on the blade itself, so really haven’t had to do any real cleanup there. Even if I did something evil to the tail, it shouldn’t impact shaving capability.
Follow-up question: The thing that was getting it shiniest was the 1u paste. Will it get shinier if I moved on to smaller particles? At what point is the finish as shiny as it will get to the naked eye?