Can I restore "machine" satin finish

tjswarbrick

tjswarbrick

Joined
Mar 31, 2011
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If there's already a thread on restoring a satin finish, please provide a link. I did a search and couldn't find anything.

I have been improving my sharpening skills, but still tend to leave small scratches on my blades near the edge.
I also just re-profiled and sharpened my War Dog. It now has a nearly polished convex edge at 30 degrees inclusive, and shaves hair easily. I'm going to pull it back to ~ 45 degrees at the micro edge, and polish it up, in order to maintain some edge retention and the famous INFI toughness.

The system I used left a neat scratch along the length of the blade, probably caused by some abrasive or leftover steel contaminating the angle guide.

The knife is a user, not a safe queen, so if I'm stuck with the scratch - so be it.
If, however, anyone has a suggestion on restoring the beautiful factory satin finish, without sending it out or making it worse, I'd love to hear the suggestions.
I've already tried liquid Flitz metal polish, to no affect whatever.
I have, but have not tried, sandpaper at 220, 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500 grit, as well as 1/2" MicroMesh belts at 80MX, 150MX, 180MX, 360MX, 800MX, and 1200MX.
I'm willing to acquire abrasives or polish as needed, up to ~$25 or so, but am not currently able to invest in new power tools or any exotic tooling.
Thanks for any suggestions you can make!

- Tom
 
tom, send me an email with your number and i'll give you a call. maybe one of my ideas will help you get a good satin finish. it looks like you have plenty of sandpaper which is what i would use.
 
Thanks guys.
Richard, I took you advice on the hand method. The scratches are still there, but so much less noticeable than before - so I'm quite happy with the result. It worked so well I kept increasing the grit, all the way through green compound.
The blade doesn't look polished - just satin - but it's very smooth. And the edge is about as sharp as anything I've ever seen. The hair just flies off my arm.
It looks like you helped me discover the best way to sharpen this full-convex blade!

dsl - thanks for the offer. I followed the link to your thread, and the work looks great. Plus, it's an awesome offer! Incredible really. But I'm happy with my results for now.

Regards,
Tom
 
Well at least you are happy with the way it turned out! That's all that matters!
 
no problem tom. i'm glad i was able to help. if you go back over it later with the last coarsest grit you can get rid of all the scratches eventually.
 
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