zarathustra wrote:Papa Gleb wrote:Farmall is right. Peterson picks just like any other will need some hand finishing to smooth things out but actually mirror polishing is up to you. Remember the more you sandpaper them, the more material you take off and can go from .025 to .020 without even noticing. May not be a big deal but what if you have .015 which can much easier and faster go to .05-10 and then it becomes unreliable. What thicknesses did you get those picks in?
Is there a good rule of thumb to avoid this? I have just started polishing my Sparrows set (0.025") with 600, 800, 1200 and 1500 sandpaper. I just use the sand paper in a book and spend around 1 minute on each side for each grit, and one minute along each edge.. I hope I'm not taking off too much material. I'm pretty much just following kokomolock's video tutorial on polishing.
My set does contain a 0.015" hook, and I'll be very careful with that one.
I work the edges (as opposed to the main flat edge), through folded sandpaper in my hands. For rounded angles (e.g. the curves in a bogie) I wrap the sandpaper around a fine paintbrush’s stem and then work that across the curve at multiple angles.
However, if I intend take a fair bit off the main flat edge — that is, I actually wish to purposely thin the pick — I tend to do the flat side(s) first, because you end up doing the edges twice otherwise (taking a fair bit off along the flat edge will sharpen the edges again; if you rounded these first you’ll find yourself doing them again).
Protip: as many have pointed out, do the flat edges using grit paper folded in a book, for two reasons:
1. Lower likelihood of slippage and stabbings, worst of which can result in a particularly nasty stabbing + broken pick. -_-
2. Holding sandpaper pinched between your hands will not give you an even spread of sanding — you will take off more material in some areas along the flat edge than in others (viz., pinching the material between thumb, pointing and middle-fingers).
Respect the ability of the lower-grit ranges to take a lot off fairly quickly, especially when put into a book — unless you’re thinning with a purpose, don’t stay in the 400-800 ranges for too long — it should only take 10 or so strokes back and forth if you’re stepping from 400–1.5k in 200-or-so-grit increments. Other than that, experiment!
I mourn for all sanding-induced stabbings this thread my lead to. *massages hands* (: