DCBB process?

[resinguy]

There seems to be more interest lately in folks getting blast jobs on their knives. Does anyone know exactly what process the Busse shop uses? Some time ago there was a discussion on this; IIRC the blade is finished to near satin, then grit (what kind?) blasted, followed by a glass bead blast to smooth down the texture. If that is close to correct, are the beads a single use, because they get broken? or can they be reused?

 

[rbmcmjr]

Two slightly different recipes from the archives of that stinky dude to my west:

1a Leave scales on and all clothing.
1b Strip with Sand @ 100psi.
2. Do a good job sanding the blade, by Sand.
3. Blast with sand (100psi) @ all angles from 18".
4. Blast with beads (30psi) straight on from 18".
5a Get naked.
5b Go pick up women. The Chicks dig Sand.

ee cummings mode:

i use a double cut method also.

first i blast with silica sand (masonary center) in several directions to remove the fine grinding lines. this will cut the grinding lines totally out. i shoot at 100lbs pressure.

second i shoot the target with 120 sieve glass beads straight on using around 40lbs pressure. this will peen and seal the surface.

i get great results and it will look good imho.

i have never taken a knife to the satin stage before shooting, busse does this with all his dblcut knives.... the extra step to get his nice finish.

 

[resinguy]

Thanks, Rick. :thumbup:

Has the Shop ever revealed their process? It leaves a very smooth surface to the touch, and the appearance of very fine grained.

 

[DowntownDM]

not to knock the shop's DC process or anything, because it is cool looking and feeling, but when I recently had my ASH1 re-beadblasted I just had a local shop do it with one pass and no fancy process and it looked and felt great.

Though I didn't have another DC blade to compare it with at the time, I'd say they're more similar than different - so maybe just try it out if a shop near you can do it. It cost me all of $20 and I picked it up 48hrs later. Just a thought...

 

[resinguy]

Was the ASH DCBB originally, or coated? I could imagine that restoring a factory DCBB would be pretty straightforward. My NMSFNO was stripped and blasted by Jeremy Horton. I'm not sure how much work he might have had to put in to deal with any surface defects the paint was hiding, but it looks real good now. After a chopping session the other day, it cleaned up perfect.

 

[DowntownDM]

Was the ASH DCBB originally, or coated?

when I originally got it new from the shop (back whenever they were offered) it was DC, but about a year ago (I think) I sanded it myself and made it Satin (not mirror, by pretty close), all during which I used it a bunch and beat on it regularly, then just had it re-done with no prep work other than cleaning the dirt and junk off it. honestly, I have no idea as to how all that affected the end result, but it did come out nice.