Buffing/Polishing Peel Ply Carbon Fiber

EZ Bake

EZ Bake

Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Messages
1,752
I know this is more tinkering/modding, but since it's mainly dealing with Spyderco's peel-ply finished carbon fiber (ManixII, Para2, Millie, Stretch) and I've seen a few pics where folks have showcased their polished PP-CF knives, I figured I'd ask here.

I'm planning on polishing the scales on my CF/ZDP Stretch and was wondering if anyone had any insight? I planned on Googling and what not, but I would love if someone here had some tips or tricks to share.
 
I was looking into this as well..all I found was stuff for Carbon fiber hoods. Hope someone chimes in
 
At least one person who posts here or on the Spyderco factory forum has done this and posted pictures. IIRC, ti took a decent polish. Am guessing it looks more like the matte than the glossy stuff as it doesn't have the same thick clear gel layer on top to give it depth.
 
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Tip number one: wear a respirator. The resins used are hazardous if inhaled.

Tip number two: the dust generated is electrically conductive. If you use an electric sander, it could short or shock you.

Both of these can be avoided by hand sanding with wet or dry sandpaper working underwater.
 
i've done that, give me a couple minutes and i'll try uploading pictures with my phone,

best advice given so far is sand under running water. CF makes a very thin, abrasive dust that WILL irritate your skin, lungs, eyes .... don't ask me how i know.

here with some friends, for comparison. the M4 ritter has a cuscadi handle, the milie is a S90V one, with polished scales (not done by me), the stretch i stopped at 600grit to keep it matte. i tried to "round" the edge of the scales too.

imag0254a.jpg

By pwetpwet at 2012-02-16

a closer comparison with the milie, as you can see the pattern from golden and seki are different. i prefer the pattern on the stretch.

imag0255d.jpg

By pwetpwet at 2012-02-16

closer look at the finish

imag0256t.jpg

By pwetpwet at 2012-02-16

imag0257v.jpg

By pwetpwet at 2012-02-16

for the process, you have to take the scales off obviously, then i used strips of sandpaper from 240 to 600 bare hand as i wanted to round the scales, sand with a hard sanding pad (wood) if you want to preserve the flat surface. the peel ply texture wanted to stay here at some places like around the pivot and clip. do this under running water or at least wet, very wet.

sorry for the pics it comes from my phone, took on my kitchen countertop. hope this helps.
 
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pwet said:
sorry for the pics it comes from my phone, took on my kitchen countertop. hope this helps.
Click to expand...

It definitely helps man - I didn't know that the pattern from Seki was that different. I'm not sure if I want to do it or not now - I really like the Golden pattern to be honest.

Yours does look very nice though - what grit did you stop at on the Millie - it looks significantly shinier.

Did you just use sand-paper and go by hand until you had the finish you wanted or did you use any polishing compounds/tools?
 
the milie i bought it second hand (third actually) the handle was polished by the frist owner, so i don't really know how this was done , i assume he just sanded it then buffed to high shine

mine is straight from 600 paper, it could look just as glossy as the milie if i find a buffer, but the matte look is what i was aiming for, in fact i wanted it even more dull but at 320 grit the scratch pattern was way too obvious. if i can find someone with sandblasting equipment i'll probably sand blast both the stretch and the milie.
 
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