I just finished derusting some plane irons. Many have a dull dark gray appearance and some mild pitting. I have quite of bit of them to do. On other parts, I would sand them down and then move up the grit to 400-500. This method, however, removes the pits and the engravings.
I would like to keep the engravings and I don't mind the pitting. I want to bring the surface to a reasonable shine quickly. I tried polishing compounds and buffing wheels, but they seem to only turn the dull gray into shiny gray. I tried emery compound and a sisal wheel, but it didn't do much better and the sisal kept tattering up on the edges.
I added some photos of some plane irons FYI.
Any suggestions?
![](http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161127/64f384d220b051a929d33d769b450299.jpeg)
![](http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161127/d20cc108f5e6df6d361889f69bb8fd9f.jpeg)
![](http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161127/4a7b93df3d0932cd760efcc3d41f834c.jpeg)
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