Polished handle plain Sebenza

N

Nightglock

Joined
Sep 2, 1999
Messages
138
I just got my small plain Sebenza in the mail today and I absolutely love it. It's the perfect size for me and will now be my daily utility knife. It was hardly worn with very minor scratches on the handle. Unsatisfied with the appearance, I decided to take one of those polishing sticks (looks like nail files, but are much finer for polishing knives, got it at a knife show) and polished the handle down. The dark grey is now gone, replaced by a silvery titanium color that's really smooth. It's not really quite polished like the decorated versions, but it's getting there. Does anyone know of anything that will really get these handles polished?

Of course you guys want pics, so here they are. They're not as good as they could be, but hopefully you guys will see a difference in the handle of my small Sebenza.
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Nightglock,

Wonderful photographs, yours are the best I've seen on the forums. Keep up the good work. It is nice to get pictures with the words we read. The little Sebie looks great! How about grip? Does the new polish finish make her to lick? I have always wondered if you can order a polished (like the decorated) without the decoration.



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I'm not nutz, I've just gone sebenza!

Shep
 
Nice pics! Good work!!

If you did all that today then those sticks work well, I'll have to look for some.

I am of the opinion you probably can't polish any farther without a polish wheel, and I understand titanium will develop "waves" if not polished correctly.

It looks good, why not stop there?
 
Nice look, let us know how the finish holds up.

Ralf put a more polished surface on his plain, and I have heard of at least one that was hand satin finished at a show by Chris himself.

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James Segura
San Francisco, CA
 
Shep, the grip is just a little slippery (the surface is really smooth though), but because of the serrations on the thumb ramp and the grooved part of the handle, I don't think it will slip out of my hand easily. I think I've asked a dealer if I could order a polished one without it being decorated and he said that it'll still cost $100 more.

I found the website that sells the buff-sticks: www.silversmithing.com/cutleryspecialties
I got mine at a knife show for $3 and plan to get several more (you can get 2 for $5). This thing works great if you decide to polish your handle because if you do have minor scratches, all you do is use the buff-stick to bring it back to like new. I don't plan on stopping my polishing, in fact I think my buff-stick is worn and will have to get some new ones. If you get smudges or fingerprints on it, I just use some metal polish and my polishing cloth (oakley sunglass soft case) to get them off. It's pretty much going to be like a polished decorated Sebenza. Those do get fingerprints or smudges, and you just need to wipe them off. Well, anyways hope this works. Now back to polishing!
 
Well I went to Home Depot today and got some 600 grit sandpaper (ultra fine) and managed to polish off a bit more. There still isn't a significant improvement over the pics from yesterday, so I decided not to take pics this time. I want to wait until it's as polished as a decorated one. Hmmm, this is really hard work so maybe we should all gather together and ask Chris Reeves to polish the handles of plain Sebenzas, instead of bead-blasting the handles (which shows scratches too easily).
 
Nightglock,
600 is a little too coarse.
I use 8 micron wet/dry paper that I get from my local NAPA auto parts to touch up my Umfaan.
I would advise going to 1000, then 1500 then the 8 micron before polishing.
 
Thanks ThomM. So can you get 1000 and 1500 and 8 micron grit sandpaper at just any regular auto parts store? Guess where I'm going tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be mirror polished.
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Thanks ThomM. So can you get 1000 and 1500 and 8 micron grit sandpaper at just any regular auto parts store? Guess where I'm going tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be mirror polished.
smile.gif
 
After 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper, and some Flitz metal polish, here's the results of polishing my small Sebenza. It's not quite mirror polished yet, although I can see myself in the handle, but not clearly. I plan on polishing it even beyond this. Hope you can see it in this pic. On the top I put the right side of my Tanto Sebenza (for a before shot), and then below that is my small Sebenza for an after shot.
Hope you guys see a difference:
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Sebenza....Because life is too short.

My photoalbum:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=234554&a=1741843
 
Nice work, NG! I'm curious how you worked around the thumb stud, or did you manage to remove and reinstall it?
 
I didn't polish the blade at all, just the handles. I disassembled it and sandpapered the handles by themselves and then put it back together. I'm still working on it to get a mirror polish on the handles.
 
Here my version. It is actually more reflective than in the pictures.

sebpol01.jpg


sebpol02.jpg


sebpol03.jpg


sebpol04.jpg


The finest grit I used was 600 for the front side. I left the back rougher for more friction. The clip is original bead blast because I didn't want it to stand out visually too much from my pants. As you can notice from the spine scan, I got rid of the grooves all around the knife and smoothed the handle nicely. That was done with 300 grit and took a little longer, but was no problem at all. I was surprised how soft the titanium is. The paper was from 3M and I used one of there rubber blocks to hold it. One sheet gives you four stripes for the block. I sanded it wet of course.

The final touch was done with "Sandflex"
http://store.yahoo.com/rlarson/sandflex.html

These are like erasers with abrasive particles in it. They come in coarse (red), medium (green) and fine (yellow). I used the red one for the back and the medium for the front. The fine one is too smooth for titanium. These blocks are highly recommended for metal polishing.

One more word regarding the high polish. It will scratch easily and I don't recommend it for a using knife. Mine got many scratches since I carry it in the same pocket like my keys and I'm glad it is not too shiny. Another thing is that it will keep fingerprints.

On the plus side is that the knife doesn't wear your pockets out that fast and won't get those polished spots you can see on the bead blasted handles. The surface stays more uniform.
 
Good info guys, now I'm thinking about polishing mine... So can one of you give kind of a summary of what you did and what materials you need? Because I know nothing about the polishing steps
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-Humpty

AKTI Member # A000984
Proverbs 23:2
 
Ralf, thanks for the info. I ordered some Sandflex after I read your post. Regarding the ultra high mirror polish handles, yes they may show scratches and fingerprints easily, but you can always wipe the fingerprints away and polish away the scratches again. I carry mine in my other pocket (away from keys) or in a sheath so I don't have to worry about the scratches. If any of you guys are worried about getting fingerprints on them, don't carry the decorated ones because they too will show fingerprints like crazy. I myself don't mind the fingerprints and love to just wipe away and polish it with my soft chamois. It's kind of like polishing your sword after a day's use. I noticed Ralf that you also reversed the screws. I was doing that but noticed that the screws with the hex holes were shinier than the other end so I switched them to the correct side.

Humpty, to summarize what I did, here's what you need:
1) 1000 grit, 1500 grit, and 2000 grit sandpaper (get them from the auto parts store, they're used to polish up paint jobs)
2) a tube of metal polish (flitz or metal glo with small abrasives)
3) a soft cloth, or leather chamois

First you take your Sebbie apart and work only with the handles. I first sanded each side with 1000 grit until the surface was uniform and the grey bead blasted finish was gone. After that I use the 1500 grit until the surface is uniform. Then I use the 2000 grit to really polish it up. At first, it will be kind of abrasive, and after you work with it a while, put some metal polish in, and sandpaper that onto the handle. This will help to smoothen out the particles on the sandpaper and make them finer, to help create that mirror polish look. Oh, and after you sandpaper it after each grit, put some metal polish onto your handles and wipe the handles down with your soft cloth or chamois. You'll eventually find a technique that works for you. Let us know if you have any questions. Glad this trend is catching on!



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Sebenza....Because life is too short.

My photoalbum:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=234554&a=1741843
 
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