Blade Finish Question

David Stifle

David Stifle

Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
10,188
Hi All,

I have sanded a blade up to 2000 grit, but I can still see sanding lines. I want a smooth, matte type finish, with no lines visible. Does anyone have any tips? I was thinking very fine steel wool????

Dave
 
You've got a blade hand sanded to 2000 grit, and you're still not satisfied? :eek:

You sure you're not Nick Wheeler's cousin or something? :p:D


Sorry I have no serious answer for your question; my blades never get anything near what you've already accomplished. :)
 
Dave,

I have done a few like (I think you are describing) that with steel wool.

After getting the blade to 1500-2000 grit, I used OOOO steel wool and 3-M liquid rubbing compound. Put the compound on the steel wool. Put the steel wool on a table or flat surface. Lay the blade on the wool and pull it in a straight line from ricasso to tip.

It takes many passes. Stop every now and then and wipe it down. Keep it up until you get the desired finish.

Robert
 
Danbo, I have a very nice hamon on this blade, and I'm trying to get a Japanese style look to it, i.e., highly polished with a wispy white hamon. I've actually suceeded, except that the area above the hamon does show faint sanding lines. I just need a method to smooth them out, to blend them. No, I'm not Nick's cousin, but I do admire his work.

Robert, thanks. That's a good idea.

Dave
 
In my experience if you can really see sanding lines then it's not really fully sanded to 2000...perhaps those are 600 grit scratches washed over with 2000 grit paper? 2000 takes a crazy long time and looks nearly mirror and you should barely be able to detect lines from one another. Try going back to 1000 in a different direction. If you can't quickly wash out all the lines, they were not 2000 grit and you need to back up to whatever grit they are.
 
David Schott said:
In my experience if you can really see sanding lines then it's not really fully sanded to 2000...perhaps those are 600 grit scratches washed over with 2000 grit paper? 2000 takes a crazy long time and looks nearly mirror and you should barely be able to detect lines from one another. Try going back to 1000 in a different direction. If you can't quickly wash out all the lines, they were not 2000 grit and you need to back up to whatever grit they are.
Click to expand...

for a minute there I thought the other David was answering his own question :D
 
Ahhhhh, yeah, I know. I've lost count of how many times I've dropped back and re-sanded, then moved up, etc. But, if I'm not fooling myself, it seems the 2000 grit is leaving visible sanding lines.

Dave
 
If you're not already doing so, I'd suggest using a sanding lubricant
( Windex, WD-40, 409 etc) and sanding in one direction only ( not
back and forth).
 
I'm assuming you dont want to polish with anything like mothers mag polish? Mirror finishes without any polishing might require you to go significantly higher than 2000 grit. The waterstones used in final stages of sword polishing can be up to 12000 grit, I believe
 
You might want to look at your paper. At 2000 grit, it should be mirror. You have either gotten a line from an earlier grit that you did not get out or... You might have dust from prior grinding on your 2000 grit paper or whatever you are wiping the blade with. If you want a blade that smooth, you have to make sure your work area is clean.
 
But doesn't all sanding leave lines?

At 2000 grit, you just have 2000 lines per inch instead of 600 lines at 600 grit....

Finer lines, but still lines.
 
Ah, Brian, I think you got it. Mirror, yes, I've got one, but is a mirror finish a finish without ANY lines?

Dave helped me out a lot, I dropped back one more time to 1500 and then moved back to 2000. A much nicer finish, but still, I can see the sanding lines. At least, they blend, are very fine, and are uniform.

I have some of the 3M sanding paper (literally, pieces of thin paper) which goes to 8,000 grit. But I don't like the results, they do not leave smooth, uniform lines.

So, seriously, is a "mirror" finish a finish utterly without any sanding lines? If it is, there's got to be some form of buffing involved.

Dave
 
I've never honestly seen a true mirror by sanding alone...for that matter most of the mirror finishes I see are 400-600 grit scratches that have been smeared and rounded...can you tell I'm not a fan?
 
Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm trying for such a perfect finish, as the blade still has to go into a Fc bath. I've just got it in my head that the finer, more perfect finish I get, the better the hamon will be. I do not want the simple hamon you see so much, I am striving for a Don Fogg hamon. (as if!) I've only done a few in my limited knifemaking career, but lately I've got the bug. I'll post pics in a day or two.

Dave
 
Well if you're going to etch it I wouldn't go much further. You'll need to polish the blade after the etch and my guess us that polishing will take out those 2000 grit scratches. Etch less, polish more. If you etch too long you'll lose some of the more subtle effects. Don't buff at all.
 
Thanks, David. By the way, I lived in Derry, NH for 11 years. New Hampshire sure is a lovely state. Just don't miss the winters:)

Dave
 
I have seen this "problem or condition" and in the end it traced back to the actual manufacture of the steel. If you have more of the same steel bought at the same time, you will very likely see the lines at 2000 again. Frank
 
Frank, I never thought of that. It could be, thanks for the heads up. ATX, funny, I just set Nick an email asking for help, must have missed his thread. Appreciate it.

Dave
 
David Stifle said:
I want a smooth, matte type finish, with no lines visible. Does anyone have any tips? I was thinking very fine steel wool????

Dave
Click to expand...

Well, I guess I missed something. I didn't know you were working on bringing a "hamon" out. I thought you were looking for a smooth, matte type finish.

Anyway..... The key to bringing a hamon out is etch and polish, etch and polish. Just when you think you have it, you need to etch and polish.

Nicki sure seems to know how to "etch and polish". He has some nice stuff.

Robert (who sometimes reads things "side-ways")
 
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