Do you like shiny things too? Karve SS razor polishing.

[SamSak]

For those of you who may have been a magpie in your previous life and have thought about polishing your Karve Stainless steel razor.

I have recently received my Karve Overlander in the post and so far so good, efficient yet very smooth!

Love everything about it BUT as the title suggests…I love shiny things! I had polished my CB by hand using Peek polish and patience to avoid removing too much metal.

I am very happy with the end result, imo makes the razor look a little bit more premium.

Though I would share incase anyone wanted to see the results of polishing their Stainless steel karve razors. (I know a lot have polished their brass ones before but never seen SS before)

The below is what made me try it in the first place.

Nickel plating looks nice but the colour is not the same hue as polished Stainless steel, slight yellow tinge and not has hard wearing.

Rhodium is a bit too white and ‘Blingy’ for my liking for the Overlander which feels, looks slightly rugged if that makes sense. I feel like I am using a premium tool made for shaving.

Pictures of my polished CB vs the unpolished Overlander so you can decide if you are on the fence.

 

[SamSak]

After a polish today. That G-Tech handle by Karve is just beautiful

 

[huck1680]

Well, that turned out quite nicely.

 

[Angioino]

They do look just great!! I am quite amazed by the fact you can achieve such a polish only with the paste. In the past I have polished few SS razors, always started with sanding papers and working the shine my way up. It takes hours though, especially when you do everything by hand…

 

[SamSak]

They do look just great!! I am quite amazed by the fact you can achieve such a polish only with the paste. In the past I have polished few SS razors, always started with sanding papers and working the shine my way up. It takes hours though, especially when you do everything by hand…

Thanks @Angioino. Its a long process for sure, took just under 2 hours for all the pieces with the paste and a lot of fast repetitive passes.

I found a few drops of water also help keep the paste from drying too quickly, making it almost slurry like.

Sandpaper, Micromesh pads and 000/0000 steel wool does wonders and its much quicker but can remove too much metal if you are not careful and change the razor dimensions and potentially remove the grippyness of the razor handle. The paste is gentle enough to take away the smallest amount of metal so although it takes a much longer its more controlled.

 

[huck1680]

Thanks @Angioino. Its a long process for sure, took just under 2 hours for all the pieces with the paste and a lot of fast repetitive passes.

I found a few drops of water also help keep the paste from drying too quickly, making it almost slurry like.

Sandpaper, Micromesh pads and 000/0000 steel wool does wonders and its much quicker but can remove too much metal if you are not careful and change the razor dimensions and potentially remove the grippyness of the razor handle. The paste is gentle enough to take away the smallest amount of metal so although it takes a much longer its more controlled.

I wonder if using something like a Dremel with the polishing wheel would produce a comparable shine safely and in shorter order.

 

[SamSak]

I wonder if using something like a Dremel with the polishing wheel would produce a comparable shine safely and in shorter order.

Think a polishing wheel would work best with various polishing compounds, the same jewellers use. But again the contact area is so small with a dremel so if you push too hard or buff the same spot too much it could lead to errors, it would certainly cut down time by at least half if you didn't get too carried away haha. I trust the feel when polishing by hand, anything mechanical in the hands of an amateur like me could lead to upset but in a professional the result would be perfect.