Daryl showed an image of a split guard I made for a Wm. Antes swivel breech rifle, from a sand casting from TOW. There is enough brass in the rough casting for two guards, but that is good when you are creating a particular guard from a 'blank'. I use course metal cutting rasps, set aside exclusively for brass, then finer files, and finally various grits of abrasive cloth backed with files, strips of wood, rubber hose in various diameters...etc. I polish to 600 usually then burnish with four ought steel wool. As I go through the various abrasive cloth, starting at 80 grit removing file marks, I cut across the brass at a different angle from the last, and continue with this process, always creating a new set of marks removing the last, always at a different angle. And as the abrasive gets finer and finer, less time and effort is required to remove the scratches left from the previous. I'll have to try scraping...
