Do your customers care about shiny?

[Lycosa]

Great thread.
Give me a "Hartsfield" duty finish, any day.
Phill's final finish was with a Green scrubbie.
rolf

 

[Cliff Parker]

Always remember the crow factor.

Make it shinny they will pick it up.

Cliff

 

[wesmanthetiger]

I prefer stonewash myself. Durable, hides scratches, easy to care for, and just looks great!

 

[LX_Emergency]

I've noticed that, too. Most of my clients feel no need to pay me extra to finish a blade very finely, because they fully intend to use it a lot and scratch it up anyway. Those who do prefer hand-sanded blades are usually quite happy with 400 grit. (as Bruce said, go one step further and come back down, for the crispest look)

Regardless of the style of finish, I think we all agree it should be even and consistent. One trick I use is, when I think I'm done with a belt finish at 400 or 600 grit, I go over it lengthways by hand with just a few strokes of the same grit paper... that will show up any "hidden" coarser scratches real quick. And as others mentioned, coarse scratches that are buffed shiny just look awful and cheap, like flea-market stuff.

see that's what made me ask.

Every time I get a custom order they want a belt or scotch Brite finish. Seems hardly anyone (at least anyone that orders from me) is willing to pay for the extra effort that a nice finish takes.

 

[Varga Knives]

I love the look of a nice hand sanded lengthwise blade but I prefer to use stonewashed blades for the reasons mentioned. Like James said, I hate a mirror (or close to it) finish with scratches running every which way. Cheap cheap cheap.

I wouldn't like to use it myself but this one has 3000 grit flats that show every fingerprint and smudge.