Faster Mirror Finish

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denker2000

Joined
Nov 19, 2016
Messages
6
hello, all who can help,

I have made about 10 knives so far and about 5 of them are mirror finished. Currently I am using my harbor freight grinder to get them to 120 finish then using sequential sandpaper up to about 1200. (120, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200). Then I polish the blade of a buffer on my drill press. This takes a LONG time to do, and I spend about 3 hours a side per knife. I was wondering if there is a faster way to this mirror. I don't have enough for a really good grinder (plus I am not that good on it and usually mess up the bevels some how). I don't know..... Any ideas on how to mirror faster??

On an unrelated note how well does dipping a 1095 blade in ferric acid to achieve a darker blade color...... I got some a few weeks ago for working on damascus, but I heard you could use it on high carbon steels to darken the color. If so could you mirror the blade afterward and still maintain the darker look??

Thanks for help, Just a 16 year old from Boise ID who loves to make knives.

THANKS!!!

Jack Denker
 
hello. there are many methods but for me the fastest way is to go up to 1000 grit on the machine, then do 1500 grit at a 45 degree angle across the blade to make sure the machine scratches are gone, then buff. if you do not have really good buffing equipment, you might want to go 2000 grit after the 1500. go across the 1500 grit scratches so you can tell when they are gone. the tricky part is to make sure when you are on the machine, to get rid of all the scratches from the previous grit before changing belts. you can use marking fluid, or color the whole blade with a magic marker between grits to make sure you do not miss any spots. the higher the grit you use, the faster the blade gets hot. slow down the machine and/or dip the blade in water often above 400 grit.
 
Thanks John,

I'll try and get some higher grit belt for my grinder. That wails sure speed up the process. A friend of mine mentioned using a sand blaster with fine sand to get a good finish. Would this be possible? I don't know much about sand blasters but would it be reasonable to get one if what he says is true?

Thanks
 
16 year old from Boise ID who loves to make knives.
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Very cool !

I don't make knives. I always thought I would back in the day but so far I just fool around modding one now and again. I have mirror polished knives but mostly with Si Carbide (wet or dry paper with rubber blocks). Slow going.

You will LOVE this book if you don't already have it.

Sand blasting. I have done a bunch of that. Best you can do is a "frosted" look using sand or glass beads. Maybe there is some other blast media to get a glossy finish but part of what you are doing when you polish a knife with belts and buffs is making the surface basically smooth and flat(ish) and blasting will leave a somewhat wavy surface so when it begins to reflect light you are going to see the waviness . . . think wet ice.

anyway . . .enjoy the book.
 
I do not believe there is any fast way to a good mirror polish like many things in life. It is probably because of that some knife buyers love to hold a mirror finished knife up to the light and see if there are any imperfections which will surely show up on a mirror polished grind. They are very difficult to get perfect...I don't think I ever have made a "perfect" one yet but that does not mean that it's not worth the attempt in my opinion. Larry

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denker2000 said:
Thanks John,

I'll try and get some higher grit belt for my grinder. That wails sure speed up the process. A friend of mine mentioned using a sand blaster with fine sand to get a good finish. Would this be possible? I don't know much about sand blasters but would it be reasonable to get one if what he says is true?

Thanks
Click to expand...

One thing you may want to check out is the Idaho Knife Association which is here in Boise IKA. Membership is $25/yr I believe and they have monthly educational meetings. It's also a great opportunity to ask questions from fellow knife makers in person that may have experienced the same problem or issue you are. There is also a show and tell session at each meeting where you can pass around your latest and greatest for others to view and if you want to critique.

You can find their site on the web. Good luck

Admin hopefully this isn't considered advertising, please remove if there is an issue.
 
A true mirror finish takes a while. Hold your blade to the light at a raking angle and see if you really have a mirror finish or polished fine scratches.

I did some back when I was starting and it was cool to see my reflection in the blade. Just finer grits and grind at opposite angles every grit to make sure you get each grit "clean" before you move to the next.
 
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mirror polishing is an art, and as such takes time. There are no shortcuts but patients procedures. The best advice was given above: "grind at opposite angles every grit".

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Riccardo
 
I will say that I tried 1 mirror blade... tried. It got shiny but not mirror. You even look at it too hard and it will get a scratch. I decided that I hate hand sanding way too much to ever do that to myself again.
So instead of chasing mirrors I decided to chase hamons, lol.
Basically the same exact methods of mirror, just with etching and polishing, etching and polishing, etching and polishing.
 
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