Blackland Blackbird Titanium Finally!

I have been doing a little hand sanding of my Blackbird Ti. Hand sanded from 400 grit up till 2,500 grit - taking a pause now because I have surrendered to the idea that I will never get to where I want without a rotary tool. The challenges I have encountered so far are: (1) eliminating ALL machining marks, especially in the curved areas, (2) lather channels, (3) grooves in the handle.

Cut my "losses" with the above hand sanding exercise, and have ordered a mini rotary tool, wool felt shanks, and diamond lapping paste (40 micron to 0.5 micron, roughly equivalent to 320 grit to 10,000 grit) to restart the entire endeavor.

For reference, this was after 1,500 grit sandpaper - looks pretty brushed to me. The challenge here would be sanding in a single direction to achieve this finish.



For further reference, this was after 2,500 grit sandpaper, reminded me somewhat of the Yates stone-washed finish. The remaining machine marks were truly devastating.

What is the OVERALL Aesthetic goal you’re trying to achieve? Brushed? You said you want to: [font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif](1) eliminating ALL machining marks, especially in the curved areas, (2) lather channels, (3) grooves in the handle[/font]

I’d love to see what the underside of the top cap looks like currently as well as the base plate.  Did you measure out both pieces before you started? I only ask because I’m curious about the tolerances being affected

Aiming to achieve a full, high (possibly mirror) polish on the razor, that is why I ordered the finer grits.

Unfortunately, I do not have fine enough calipers to measure - but at 400 grit, I am expending a fairly significant amount of effort and time to remove the machining marks, so my intuition / assumption is the amount of metal being removed is minimal with each pass. Going on faith here, but I got a Blackbird Jet to compare with when I am done, so I will inform the forum if I screwed up royally, as a tale of caution.

Have not made much progress on the underside, so what you see on yours is the same on mine. Base plate is patchy, areas that have curvature have machining marks.

What is the OVERALL Aesthetic goal you’re trying to achieve? Brushed? You said you want to: [font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif](1) eliminating ALL machining marks, especially in the curved areas, (2) lather channels, (3) grooves in the handle[/font]

I’d love to see what the underside of the top cap looks like currently as well as the base plate.  Did you measure out both pieces before you started? I only ask because I’m curious about the tolerances being affected

How hard would it be to do the brushing ourselves?

It depends on your skill level and tool access. It's not overly difficult, but I wouldn't personally recommend learning a new skill on a $300 razor. If you do, make sure you share some pics!

I have been doing a little hand sanding of my Blackbird Ti.

There's always that one stubborn soul who does it just because you say he shouldn't. 

Joking aside, cool project, stesa. I have toyed with the idea of getting a rotary tool but don't have enough things I'd actually want to bother polishing. If you can get a great mirror finish, that would be great. I'm more of a brushed / satin finish person.

Aiming to achieve a full, high (possibly mirror) polish on the razor, that is why I ordered the finer grits.

Unfortunately, I do not have fine enough calipers to measure - but at 400 grit, I am expending a fairly significant amount of effort and time to remove the machining marks, so my intuition / assumption is the amount of metal being removed is minimal with each pass. Going on faith here, but I got a Blackbird Jet to compare with when I am done, so I will inform the forum if I screwed up royally, as a tale of caution.

Have not made much progress on the underside, so what you see on yours is the same on mine. Base plate is patchy, areas that have curvature have machining marks.

What is the OVERALL Aesthetic goal you’re trying to achieve? Brushed? You said you want to: [font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif](1) eliminating ALL machining marks, especially in the curved areas, (2) lather channels, (3) grooves in the handle[/font]

I’d love to see what the underside of the top cap looks like currently as well as the base plate.  Did you measure out both pieces before you started? I only ask because I’m curious about the tolerances being affected

Ohhhhh, Got it, MIRROR POLISH, I thought you were trying to get brushed for some odd reason.  My SS Bbird is polished and I was quite impressed with the finish, same as my Blackland Tradere.  I applaud you trying to put a polished finish on that rig!

Are you stateside/Canada? If you are I have no problem loaning you my Dremel Kit, PM me and I can select some of the polishing bonnets from my ever growing unused dremel collection of tools.  I’m not very handy with tools but I know my way around pencils, crayons and markers, lol.

How hard would it be to do the brushing ourselves?

It depends on your skill level and tool access. It's not overly difficult, but I wouldn't personally recommend learning a new skill on a $300 razor. If you do, make sure you share some pics!

I have been doing a little hand sanding of my Blackbird Ti.

There's always that one stubborn soul who does it just because you say he shouldn't. 

Joking aside, cool project, stesa. I have toyed with the idea of getting a rotary tool but don't have enough things I'd actually want to bother polishing. If you can get a great mirror finish, that would be great. I'm more of a brushed / satin finish person.

ZD, I’m glad you said it! I feel a little anxiety and anxiousness and it’s not even my 300+ rig! Good for him though, damn Rebel!

Thank you very much, ExtraProtein - that is incredibly generous of you.   Unfortunately, I am based halfway round the world in Singapore, but I think I am all set from a tool perspective (or will be by next week). Have been devouring jewelry / titanium polishing videos and forum materials to prep in the meantime.

I know it is akin to saying I can fly a plane after watching a bunch of flight simulation videos, and I will probably do a test polish on a couple of coins before hopping to it. The comfort I have is Ti is a really hard material to cut (and therefore polish) so hopefully there is some margin of error.

Cautiously optimistic that it will be a productive one like my badger hair bleaching experiment, which was based on Neil from HCS’ videos!

stesa 

When polishing metal you just need to keep in mind that you always need to buff out the marks of the previous step before moving to the next stop of polishing.
Otherwise you will be left with marks even though you have polished it to a mirror shine. 
And rule of thumb, never more than double. So 400 - 800 - 1600 - 3200 etc. 
At some point you will need to switch to a polishing compound and then to a finishing compound.

stesa 

When polishing metal you just need to keep in mind that you always need to buff out the marks of the previous step before moving to the next stop of polishing.
Otherwise you will be left with marks even though you have polished it to a mirror shine. 
And rule of thumb, never more than double. So 400 - 800 - 1600 - 3200 etc. 
At some point you will need to switch to a polishing compound and then to a finishing compound.

When did Harvey Specter ever do his own polishing?

When I first received the Ti Blackbird a couple weeks ago I was not sure I would like it, as it's a huge departure from what I typically use as a daily shaver. I had a few really great shaves with it, but decided to sell it because it just isn't something I could see myself using daily. I took pictures for the BST ad and everything, but for whatever reason never got around to actually listing it. A few days later I got a wild hair and decided to give it one last shave before selling it.

Here we are a couple weeks later, and not only do I still have the BB, but it is now one of, if not my #1 DE I've used. I've really come to enjoy the efficiency and the fact that it is not at all harsh or irritating despite the positive blade exposure. Although it's not quite as carefree as what I would typically grab to knock out my morning shaves, after giving it a bit more time I am now completely comfortable using it on auto pilot without having to give a lot of thought. I think, ironically, I've been getting more comfortable shaves using the BB than I have at times with other more mild razors.

It is time to do some experimenting and see if I can in fact use it as a daily shaver over many consecutive days. If so, which I suspect may be the case, the Ti BB could very well be the only DE I keep. There's a moral somewhere nestled in that story.

Razors are up for sale