bead blasting and handle finish

C

cobound

Joined
Dec 5, 2011
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I'm building a tactical fighter for my nephew who is going to Afghanistan in a few weeks. It will have front and rear bolsters, beveled in towards the tang to accept and help hold the handle along with Loveless bolts. This style is a first for me. I would like a bead blasted finish on the steel. I figure, after the bolsters(304ss) are pinned, to insert temporary handles and shape the bolsters to 90%. Replace the temps with my handle material and final shape. My question is how/when should I bead blast without damage to the handle material? While I've bead blasted as a machinist, I never had to be concerned with secondary material finish. Any and all suggestions and help will be greatly appreciated,
Thanks, Cobound
 
For the blade, bead blast should be your last step before attaching handles and bolsters for good and all.

If you're going to blast the bolsters, shape the parts you're going to see, and leave just a little bit of steel on the parts you're not going to see. The bead blast is probably going to round off any corners, so you're going to have to clean up the mating surface between bolster and handle material to get a seamless fit.

The amount of steel you leave on will depend on the penetration depth of your blasting media. A few thousandths should be enough.
 
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