Blueing a tomahawk

[Skean Dhu]

I surely would appreciate any advice or instruction.

I've been working on some Cold Steel tomahawks and was wondering about prepping the steel for blueing. I have very little experience with polishing or buffing but it's my understanding that the better the polish, the better the blueing results will be. Is that the case?

I've been stripping the paint then sanding them with my Craftsman bench sander. They are pretty rough underneath the paint!

Even after using a fine grit sanding belt there is still sanding marks. Where do I begin, in terms of buffing compounds, to polish the blades? ( I picked up an old buffer at a garage sale) Are the buffing compounds abrasive enough to polish the heads (after I remove the paint) with out sanding them first ?

Any hints or tips on buffing the heads?

I appreciate your time and attention.

 

[mete]

Of course if you have scratches they will show up better after bluing ! It's not important to highly polish or buff to get a good blue .400 grit is plenty and if the blade is to be used scratches from use will show up much better with finer polish ! You don't mention what type of bluing but any way it's a matter of creating a colored oxide .So the surface must be absolutely clean and degreased !!! One it's clean don't touch it !!