Deep scratches

J

Justin0211

Joined
Apr 9, 2015
Messages
4
Hi everyone! I'm new here and am hoping someone can give me an easy solution to this. I have an old circular sawmill blade that I got from a friend with very deep scratches. I've been wanting to make a LARGE battle axe for something of a wall hanger and wanted to use this blade. He had tried to get the rust off with a angle grinder so he could put the blade in his house,however all he did was put lots of scratches in it. I'm not wanting a mirror finish by long shot but I would like to be able to get rid of or hide the scratches. What would be the best way?

Thanks in advance,
Justin
 
Well to get rid of scratches or marks they must be removed by grinding and or sanding. There isn't a way to add on metal to hide the marks.
Frank
 
Put more scratches on it. It looks cool when you get it right.

I do it orderly, not randomly... which makes it look random.

Whatever motion up and down you want to use (like you're lightly bouncing the angle grinder- tilting the same way), cover the whole thing from one direction, then go 90* to that, etc.

I usually use the flap wheels, but I've done it with a regular grinding wheels.
 
That is an interesting idea Grizzled. Do you have any pictures of that effect?

I currently have the blade sanded to 50 grit with a random orbital and the finish itself does not look bad. The only problem is that a few scratches are really deep and look bad since they are in circles. Would acid etching it to a dull gray cover them up. If not i guess I may be doing a lot more sanding. Is there anything that works better than a orbital sander for this? I have the sander, an angle grinder, a belt sander, and access to both a buffer and a sand blaster.
 
If it is going to be a wall hanger you can fill the deep scratches with weld and grind them smooth.
 
Yeah, or fill them with brass and grind them off. Seriously, there are lots of things you could do.

If you want to see what I'm talking about, google "random scratching pattern on steel".

Click the third one and you will find what you want.

Maybe. Life is full of uncertainty.
 
I see what you mean now. That does make a pretty sick effect. I've got about 20 huge teeth I cut off the blade to experiment with so I'm going to see just what it looks like next time I get the time. Thanks a plenty.
 
zooker - Don't get your feathers ruffled so easily. Your suggestion was a bad one, no one attacked you. Welding up a blade's surface to fill scratches is not a workable plan.

Take a look at your posts over the past few months and you will see what we all see. You are brand new to knifemaking. You have just purchased a HF porta-band, made a wooden grinder, and had problems with some of your first projects. We all have problems in the beginning. We all learn as we go. Let those with actual experience give advice on technical issues.

Stick around and keep working on your knives.
 
Use a flap disk on your grinder. They grind much more smoothly that the "stone" abrasive discs. Sand the high spots down, rather than trying to blend the scratches out.
 
It is too hard now to actually work with it I'd say. Anneal it, then surface grind it. You can even use sandpaper and a sanding block but it will take longer.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
zooker - Don't get your feathers ruffled so easily. Your suggestion was a bad one, no one attacked you. Welding up a blade's surface to fill scratches is not a workable plan.

Take a look at your posts over the past few months and you will see what we all see. You are brand new to knifemaking. You have just purchased a HF porta-band, made a wooden grinder, and had problems with some of your first projects. We all have problems in the beginning. We all learn as we go. Let those with actual experience give advice on technical issues.

Stick around and keep working on your knives.
Click to expand...

I was just going to leave, but I thought, no. Please re-read the OP. He is asking about a wall hanging, piece of art. Not a blade. I would not give technical advice to anyone in the realm of knife making as i don't feel qualified, but I am an acomplished artisan in many fields. While I say I have had "problems" it is merely that I expect perfection and will not accept less and there are plenty of guys doing great work with even less than Harbor Freight tools and home made belt grinders. While you are an accomplished knife maker, you are self righteous and condescending to many new comers (re-read many of your posts). Don't You worry, I will continue with knife making, but it will not be here as there are many other places beginners are embraced. I wish you well.

I apologize to the OP as I did not wan't this to happen, but it was inevitable given the circumstances....
 
Yet another eager newbie pledging to leave the best forum on the net. Perhaps a slightly different tack would have benefited the situation better, but that time is passed. Zooker, I think the issue with weld filling the scratches, well, for a wall-hanger I can only think of discoloration from different alloys. I'm sure Stacy, in his wealth of experience, has a valid reason for not doing this. Maybe if we ask him nicely, he will tell us why weld filling isn't a good idea?
 
zooker89 said:
While you are an accomplished knife maker, you are self righteous and condescending to many new comers (re-read many of your posts). Don't You worry, I will continue with knife making, but it will not be here as there are many other places beginners are embraced. I wish you well.
Click to expand...


OH sheet!!!......MAN DOWN!!! ;0)

Another fledgling knife maker cracks under the tremendous pressure applied to the side of his neck by Stacey's Boot Heel ;0)

Come on back zooker89.. you're not the first guy to come up with a crappy idea, anyone who has tried to weld 5/32 flat stock knows it will start to curl up like a potato chip and warp
 
The way I see it, Stacy is no harsher than he needs to be. When i post questions he almost always comments with either the perfect answer and a little biting quip. But that's life. I prefer a mod who knows exactly what he is doing and can be a bit coarse than one who is nice to everyone but has no idea what they are talking about.
 
Oh wow. So here we go again.

First an accomplished welder can fill scratches and they can be ground smooth and the discoloration can be sanded/polished away. As has already been said the likely thin material in this case makes it harder to do without warping, and it would take some above average skill and patience. Not to mention equipment that's much more sophisticated that the AC "buzz box" found in the average hobbyist's garage. It would only be practical if there where just a few deep scratches in an otherwise unblemished piece (It's kind of hard to imagine from the OP's post that this is the case, but this is a case where a picture of the damage would likely result in getting the best advice for a fix).

So I think that Stacy really probably meant that your advice was rather impractical.( I don't want to put words in Stacy's mouth, however zooker you get the idea how words on the internet can be misconstrued.)

I can't personally imagine making a battle axe out of 5/32 thin stock, but if it is just the outline for art; then I stand corrected.( see what I'm getting at; is it's kinda hard to get a feel for what is being asked here without probing for some more information)

So don't go away mad zooker. Learn from the experience and you'll turn out to be a positive, helpful member of this forum. I quarantee you can learn a lot around this place if you first learn to ask the right questions.

Jeff
 
Deja Vu

No need to be rude to the guy because his suggestion is not what you would do.
 
personally I think any good battle axe needs a few scratches. The more the better. You don't go to war and crush sculls without coming away with a few nicks and dings in your battle axe. At least that hasn't been my experience. And fill the scratches with pure lambs blood for a more realistic look. That's just me though...but I have a HF band saw.
 
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