Another newbie question: how to make chef's knives LOOK nice again?

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WaynesWhirled

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Mar 16, 2020
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I received some great info on what I can expect from my Henckels knives when using my Lansky setup when it comes to sharpness, but I was also wondering how to best make these old (25 year) knives LOOK better as well? Some slight rust spots, uneven finish, etc. I assume almost anything to help the finish will unfortunately remove the blade marking (make/model,etc) like 0000 steel wool or other light sanding methods, but maybe there is something that won't?

Any thoughts?

Thanks again. I have spent so much time reading all the amazing information from incredibly knowledgeable people on this site.
 
Light rust-spotting can be cleaned up by applying a paste of Bar Keepers Friend powder, mixed with water, to the spot with a Q-tip. Just let it sit for 30 seconds or so, then rinse it off. If the blades are stainless, you could likely leave the BKF in contact for up to 60 seconds before rinsing. The oxalic acid in BKF is capable of etching steel (even stainless), which is why you don't want to leave it on too long. But the same oxalic acid is also what works so well to dissolve rust.

Scratches from sharpening can only be removed by sanding or grinding. So, a decision needs to be made if it's worth doing that, if you also hope to preserve the original finish or logos on the blade. Laying the blade flat to a sheet of wet/dry sandpaper over a hard surface, like glass or stone, is an easy way to even up the finish with linear, one-direction-only passes over the sandpaper. But obviously, that'll also start to remove logos from the blade. If the blade is somewhat convex in grind (some chef's knives have a very subtle, thin convex across the full width of the blade), a sheet or two of plain paper, underneath the sandpaper, allows just enough 'cushion' for the sandpaper to conform to the slight convex of the blade, which will help maintain a uniform scratch pattern. Something around 220-400 grit works well to produce a very clean-looking brushed satin finish on blades, very similar to a lot of factory satin finishes.
 
I've done a good bit of cleaning up blades recently. Scotchbrite belts are awesome! Medium Scotchbrite is able to blend/remove some scratches as it is somewhat abrasive. The next grades of Scotchbrite are less effective unless the marks/scratches are rather fine.

I've gone as far as 220 grit belts on one blade that was badly scratched and got really nice looking results. I was able to keep some of the logo intact while doing this. I used a few layers of blue painter's tape and it was quite effective. Logo intact! However, it looks really weird because the area you tape off gets NO sanding at all, so it's like of this "logo on an island" in the middle of a blade with a nice consistent scratch pattern. It looks weird. So I removed the tape and did some light sanding and scotchbriting.... and erased a bunch of the logo. Doh! You might experiment with this and see how it works for you.

Brian.
 
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