[gssixgun]

I pulled the razor and decided that 36 hours of cleaning with the walnut shells was enough... Here are the results which I would call a success!!!!
The blade is clean and very smooth... The edge still is sharp, keep in mind that I am by no means saying that it is close to shaving sharp but for those that were concerned that the media would round or fold the edge that just hasn't happened...





I am loading the corn cob media with metal polish just like I described in the above post there is 4 lbs of corn cob so my recommendation is one tablespoon of polish to each pound.... This will have to spin until tomorrow morning so that it loads nice and even... If you were to throw the razor in at this time the polish would stick to the blade and create a blackish ugly clump on the blade and possible stain the metal so we wait 24 hours while it "Loads".....

[KingOfMalkier]

Very nice results so far. I can't wait till have a proper workshop with all these fun toys.

[Philadelph]

Glen, looks great! Does it do anything to pitting or just clean it out? i.e. would it cut out any hand sanding because you just need to take out a certain pit or whatever? Or would this be best for just blades in very good shape (or very bad shape to bring them to a decent shape)? If hand sanding will be needed for a certain blade regardless, what would the point of doing this first be? (Just questions that I would have)

[Doc]

looks to me if nothing else it will save some time and it does the work while your working on other projects

[gssixgun]

Originally Posted by Philadelph

Glen, looks great! Does it do anything to pitting or just clean it out? i.e. would it cut out any hand sanding because you just need to take out a certain pit or whatever? Or would this be best for just blades in very good shape (or very bad shape to bring them to a decent shape)? If hand sanding will be needed for a certain blade regardless, what would the point of doing this first be? (Just questions that I would have)

Alex:
I don't think that it can take out pits,,, I do think that it can eliminate sanding between 400-2000 grit.... If this works, and as more people try it, we will no doubt learn different ways to use it... Different medias different polishes etc:etc:
This is just the beginning on this, but I have high hopes

[Philadelph]

Ooooh, now it makes sense. Hand sand to get out any pitting you are gonna get out and then use the tumbler to bring it to the same finish as 2k grit hand sanding. That would be great. Is the finish (before the polishing media) equivalent to 2k hand sanding finish would you say? Or is it more satin?

[gssixgun]

Originally Posted by Philadelph

Ooooh, now it makes sense. Hand sand to get out any pitting you are gonna get out and then use the tumbler to bring it to the same finish as 2k grit hand sanding. That would be great. Is the finish (before the polishing media) equivalent to 2k hand sanding finish would you say? Or is it more satin?

Hmmmmm lets see how to answer that, the finish felt as smooth, but was not quite as shiny...close very close, the one thing that is different, is that there is no direction in the finish. Like you get with sandpaper and even with a dremmel... When you look at those finishes very closely there will be very slight scratches, after all we are just making the scratches smaller, and smaller, and lining them all up, as we sand and or polish with a dremmel. This is going to be a smoother non-directional finish when it is done...IF IT WORKS LIKE I HOPE...
Remember this is still on going

[Navy Chief]

I can't wait to see the results of the corn cob polishing, it seems like it will wok very well. Great idea and thanks for trying this and posting your results.

Chief

[stogieiv]

This is such an intriguing idea I went down to Guns Unlimited and bought one along with the mediums. And I have an older straight that the scales aren't all that great on so I'm trying it in there with the scales on just to see what happens to them.
Thanks for the great idea.
Ted

Yes I opened it up into a reverse V.

[gssixgun]

Originally Posted by stogieiv

This is such an intriguing idea I went down to Guns Unlimited and bought one along with the mediums. And I have an older straight that the scales aren't all that great on so I'm trying it in there with the scales on just to see what happens to them.
Thanks for the great idea.
Ted

Yes I opened it up into a reverse V.

+

Ted
Thanks for posting and please keep the updates coming into this thread so we all can gain knowledge...
You are taking care of the next idea that I was going to try.... Good Luck

[stogieiv]

I have a feeling it's not going to work as well with the scales on as it doesn't seem to rotate as freely as it would without them, but I will continue this through the night and see how it looks tomorrow morning.
I will then take a blade my itself and see how long that takes.

I do have a question. Has anyone tried a very fine silica sand or a silica flour? I would think a silica flour would work quite well but I was wondering if the edges of the grit while very fine would still be too sharp and cause damage?

Ted

[gssixgun]

Originally Posted by stogieiv

I have a feeling it's not going to work as well with the scales on as it doesn't seem to rotate as freely as it would without them, but I will continue this through the night and see how it looks tomorrow morning.
I will then take a blade my itself and see how long that takes.

I do have a question. Has anyone tried a very fine silica sand or a silica flour? I would think a silica flour would work quite well but I was wondering if the edges of the grit while very fine would still be too sharp and cause damage?

Ted

As of right now this is all in the experimental stage, I think sand of any type might not circulate enough to keep the razor suspended, But I don't know this I just think it....

[gssixgun]

Gentleman, I thank you for following this thread, and after checking the polishing media after 24 hours of spinning, the "polishing experiment" is now a "Polishing Method"....I would definitely call this beautiful mirror finish a success!!!!!!






(Yes BT yer shave ready razor for inspirational support that I promised, is on it's way to you)
I am totally blown away with the results any and all blemishes that you see in the pics, are from the camera, and my lack of photography skills... (i will try and take some better ones in natural light in the morning)

The razor is near flawless, the shine is mirror bright, and it has no sandpaper scratches nor buffing marks.... I would say without a doubt that this method does work, even the edge still has bite....


PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!!!


But I think this is a viable polishing method. You can find great prices on the same tumbler right here and they have media also.... but so does Walmart....
I am going to spin this one until Wed when I can fit it for some custom scales then hone it up... I'll post pics as I finish it up....

Please continue to post any new ideas for using brass tumblers for cleaning and polishing, and your results to this thread, so we can keep all the success's and failures in one spot....

[shotwell1234]

UNBELIEVABLE! Great to see that this bit of creativity paid off so well!

[Chris L]

Suh....weeeeeeet!!!

Thanks Glen.

Anyone want to buy a used buffer? Ok I'm not going to go THAT far, but almost!

Chris L

[Chris L]

Originally Posted by 2Sharp

I haven't tried it yet but I have the stuff to do it. I can reload all my shells and some I even pour my own bullets.

bj

Hey BJ, do you live in a bunker? Your basement looks like a bomb shelter.

Chris L

[Doc]

Thats Great Glen!! You are the man!!!!

[2Sharp]

Originally Posted by Chrisl

Hey BJ, do you live in a bunker? Your basement looks like a bomb shelter.

Chris L

It's just a corner of my unfinished basement that I setup for my reloading station. I also reload 12 gauge shotgun shells. I have been reloading since the mid 60's. I thought I would share this picture with you. These turkeys walked by in my front yard a couple weeks ago. I counted around 40.

bj