On Steel barrels, (rather than pattern-welded ones) you can certainly go finer than 320, since you're not concerned with pattern contrast. I sometimes go to 500. Here's a set of Armas Erbi Sidelock barrels that have had three cycles, with another two or three to go. These were polished to 400, but I could have easily gone to 500 on them. You can still see light sanding marks if you look closely, but they will be gone (to the naked eye) by the time all the cycles are completed. When sanding using the finer grits, some type of magnification is helpful. I use an "Optivisor, so I can see the progress.

I haven't tried it yet. but I'm probably going to experiment with a Vaporizer in my rusting cabinet. Anyone tried this yet?



Last edited by Ken61; 02/20/15 07:32 AM.
I prefer wood to plastic, leather to nylon, waxed cotton to Gore-Tex, and split bamboo to graphite.