Recommendation? Blade finishes

Justin Schmidt

Justin Schmidt

Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
2,209
So i love a good hand sanded finish. I honestly dont think it gets better than that. To me its one of the few things that seperates a custom/ hand made knife from a production blade. But i think some knives like small EDC blades do look good with a machine finish and even bead blasted or stone wash looks good. And that goes for folders also. But i cant help but feel like thats half assing it.( I mean NO OFFENSE what so ever to anyone who does this so please dont take it that way!)
Should i change my perspective on this?
 
What is your time worth and how much of that "money" do you think that you can actually recover when you sell a piece? The sensible answer for a new maker is NONE OF IT!!!! It's all practice and skill development at this point. ;)
 
Oh I love both hand sanded and a nice machine finish. The machine finish really helps keep the cost down and people are not afraid to use it.

 
I do all of my blades, Culinary & otherwise with a combo of Scotchbrite & Cork belts.———————————————I make Workng knives, also a slightly course finish helps kept food from sticking and in my book, nothing looks worse that a mirror polish blade with scratches on it!——————————— Fine finishes look great on desk & Shadow boxed wall knives.. YMMV..
 
Any finish can look half @%%ed and any finished can look great if they're done right.

I agree with kuraki about dirty hand rubbed finished looking less attractive than a proper belt finish. It can take a good amount of skill to achieve a beautiful belt finish, at least without the use of a jig.

I do think that bead blasting and stone washing are a bit overdone, at least in the modern titanium folder industry.

I really think it just depends on the skill to produce a clean finish of whatever type one is going for as well as the motive behind choosing finish that can make a difference. Just my 2 cents though. :)


~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)
 
That makes alot of sense. Like i said im not knocking the guys that do machine finishes. Hell look at @JoshRG he has some of the cleanest lines in the industry. This is what every finish ive done liiks like. This us a hunter i made not too long ago
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I guess its knife dependant
 
If you're not making knives for a living, why not just make whatever you like, however you like?

There are some people that leave very rough belt finished bevels and then etch them so it's even more prominent. Doesn't bother me, nothing to do with me! :)
 
milkbaby said:
If you're not making knives for a living, why not just make whatever you like, however you like?

There are some people that leave very rough belt finished bevels and then etch them so it's even more prominent. Doesn't bother me, nothing to do with me! :)
Click to expand...

Clients who like machine finishes like to use their knives.
 
AVigil said:
Clients who like machine finishes like to use their knives.
Click to expand...

That’s what I find as well. But it also depends on the type of grind. I find a machine finish looks great on a hallow grind and hand sanding looks good on a flat grind. This was a blade I did for a customer and it’s all machine finished.

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I like both. As long as both are executed well. My preference is by far a hand rubbed satin tip to tang finish. I’ve even done a few hand rubbed finishes that were spine to edge, rather than just leaving the grinder scratch pattern.
 
About 10% of my knives are high polish and the rest are either hand sanded or machine finish. I like cork belts followed by a super fine Scotchbrite for machine finish. My personal hunting knife is a high polish knife but it mostly gets used for cutting salami and cheese now. I have never tried to make a living from knife making so I do whatever strikes me as proper for each knife. Larry PS Here is a machine finished knife.

hUyKRrJm.jpg
 
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Im not doing this for a living thats what VA disability check is for ;) :D i just wanna make sureim producing the best knives of my ability
 
I like hand finished. To me as well it says real custom and took the time to do it well.
A machine finish can look clean, but it usualy makes me think: why not put in the extra effort and give it a nice hand finnish.
I do appreciate creative finishes like sand/bead blasting and playing around with tumble media and acid.

But to me I'm in to this for the joy of making someting beautifull, selling is only second to that.
 
I think it depends on the knife. Knives made for hard use are going to get messed up fast anyway. This kinda goes with the other thread about super steels and value added. If time is worth anything a hand rubbed finish is a expensive item. I think one side of the handmade knife world is about performance and getting a better tool. For those knives machine finishes are great. The other side of hand made knives is buying something unique, exclusive ,artistic, beautiful , higher status. For knives like these finish and how it's used is extremely important to the knife. There can be a range where this knives meet and levels of finish will have a spot in each area.
 
or you could do a combination of the two... Here's a Hinderer I reground, although in this one I did flats w/ a 400 grit belt not by hand - but I do the flats by hand a lot on folders.

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I carry a Knife as a "TOOL" I make knives that fit the Tool criteria...I also make knives that wander over into the Custom Artistic area that I would expect an owner to use if they care to...The "Overall" finish to me is more important than just Blade finish. A well executed hand rubbed blade is all for nothing if the Fittings and Handle are not of equal finish. When I produce a blade I consider the design and end finished product....A Big Bowie with hand rubbed blade will take months compared to a Satin Belt finished hunter that will take a week...Price tags will reflect the difference in time, materials and finish. If you plan to ask a "King's Ransom" the finish should be Museum quality!!!! However I would use a Don Hanson "Scary-Tac" folder just to say I used it once....:eek::cool::cool::cool::thumbsup:
 
I’m finishing all my knives with a fine scotchbright belt. Personally that is good enough for my style of knives, which are utility tools, or hunting knives. Most people that buy them from me, like them finished like this. I have had only one guy say he would want it shinier! But he doesn’t really use his knives the way I do! For scales, I use mostly use micarta and terotuf. I’ve been hand sanding these at around 100 grit. It’s a good combination or cleanliness and grip. But this is my opinion! I consider my knives working knives, not show queens!!
 
Razor that thing is a beauty!! Very clean.
This is why i come ask yall questions to get a better point of view. Looks like i need to practice my grinding a bit more. Working on a few EDC knives now. Theyre all hand sanded but i might re grind a few
 
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