Sandblaster or hand polishing?
Hi everyone. I repair pocket watches.
I've always followed this method for repairing and restoring cases:
First dent correct. That is, I straightened out dents on the case, welded and repaired the hinges, and bent the lids with my fingers so they closed tightly.
Then I took a 300-grit sandpaper wheel and cleaned out all the scratches so everything was smooth. Then I increased the sandpaper grind to 500, then to 800, then to 1000, then to 1500, to 2000. And only then did I take a paste and polish.
First, I polished with the coarsest paste, then progressively less coarse ones, and after each paste, I washed the case ultrasonically and rinsed it with gasoline.
After all this, I polished the case with a fluffy cloth. Only then did I consider the job done.
So, wouldn't it be better to replace the entire process after the 1000-grit sandpaper step with sandblasting? It's quick and beautiful. What do you think? (Here's one of my works, by the way.)