Anyone mirror polish cpks!

[jlauffer]

Polish, German, French, American.....

Finnish

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

Finnish

this guy gets it

 

[Lorien]

I'd do it for $8000

 

[WValtakis]

I'd do it for $8000

You'd regret that halfway through

 

[Lorien]

You'd regret that halfway through

I regret even thinking about it

 

[jlauffer]

For only $1000 I'll glue some mirrors to the blade...BOOM!!!

View attachment 2409941

 

[Casinostocks]

NOT A CPK!

My absolutely inexpert opinion with some empirical "evidence" on this subject. I recently came across a DFK chisel grind knife in 3V which was originally described as "high satin finish with hand rubbed flats". I have no idea what grit progressions were used (the OP's sales thread didn't state) but it reflect one's image like a poorly made mirror with a fair amount of cloudiness in its reflection (hard to see in these photos) but there you have it:

 

[Richard338]

This was a tanto in 26C3 from a few years ago. I took it up to around 6000 grit before etching, a pretty decent mirror.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

The issue is carbides. Although 3v is a low carbide volume tool steel, it’s still got plenty of insanely hard, tiny vanadium carbides, that don’t get cut by conventional abrasives, which is why Nate suggested silicon carbide tool and die stones. They help, but the process still sucks. Simple carbon steels like 26c3 are wicked easy to finish, as there’s no carbide formers in it beyond carbon, which by abrasive standards ain’t very hard. Even chromium carbides aren’t all that bad, with the right abrasives, which is why alloys like CPM154 get used for mirror polishes.

If you don’t cut the carbides, they stick out as you erode the steel matrix around it, and it looks crummy. So, to get PROPER mirror finish akin to what Richard pulled off with his blade above this post, you’re faced with progressive grits of silicon carbide and/or diamond, as high as you can manage, and then the chore of finding buffing compounds that will work the same way.


Which is why no one does this.

 

[Richard338]

Matt knows what he's talking about...I guess it's over...

Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!...

 

[Matthew Gregory]

Not trying to discourage you, bud - just letting you know what you’re up against. I spent three days bringing a CPM-4v blade at 63RC to an immaculate 1500 grit finish, only to realize ‘immaculate’ on that steel sucks. I have all sorts of stuff you can try, if you want. Reach out if you choose to pursue that path.

 

[Richard338]

Appreciate it Matt. I want to focus on a saya for now, plus I want to be able to hack stuff up without worrying about the finish.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

I had a good chat with Keffeler about his finish - his satin finish is intentional, because he expects he’ll need to clean it up, quickly. Just a thought.

 

[Lorien]

$10,000

 

[Richard338]

It just arrived...a lot of real estate.
The balance and feel is amazing!

 

[yoko]

The balance and feel is amazing!
View attachment 2415416

Told you!!!!!!

 

[Richard338]

Told you!!!!!!

You are right! Something tells me that in 12 hours you might be right again...

(BTW I'm sensing that some folks haven't seen the movie Animal House)

 

[Matthew Gregory]

 

[Lorien]

getting close to finishing one side at 2K grit...roughly 4 hours worth...

 

[earlhed]

Not trying to discourage you, bud - just letting you know what you’re up against. I spent three days bringing a CPM-4v blade at 63RC to an immaculate 1500 grit finish, only to realize ‘immaculate’ on that steel sucks. I have all sorts of stuff you can try, if you want. Reach out if you choose to pursue that path.

Thanks man. I appreciate the concise and answer. Nathan had some good tips and appreciate the info from both. I’m pretty satisfied with the blade. Maybe I’ll mirror another of cpks steel. I don’t ever plan on selling any so it’ll be for me.