Fastest way to getting scratch marks out?

J

J dingus

Joined
Feb 10, 2020
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Hey guys i just signed up for blade forums. Also i just finished grinding out the shape of my new project. Can anyone give me some advice on how to get all of the fine, criss crossed scratches out? Thank you
 
Hand sanding will be the best way. Go to the makers forum and read all the sticky's. if you have any questions use the search bar, almost everything has been asked before.
 
Black Oak Bladeworks said:
Hand sanding will be the best way. Go to the makers forum and read all the sticky's. if you have any questions use the search bar, almost everything has been asked before.
Click to expand...
Yup, might as well close the entire forum to new threads, why bother having an active forum?
 
Why not send him straight to the guys with the answers?
Your post didn't seem to give him much advice-KV
 
Generally speaking you need to start with an abrasive that's at least as coarse as your deepest scratch. Sand with that grade in one direction and you will form a grind composed of only that grit or grade. Then move finer and finer until you like the finish it leaves.

I've seen advice from some knife makers to turn the work 90 degrees when moving from one grade to the next. The idea being that if you can erase the lines from the previous grade, while going *across* them, rather than with them, you will totally erase them and be very sure of it because it will be visually obvious.

I'm lazy and not incredibly mechanically gifted, so I do all of this with a powered belt sander, as opposed to hand sanding.

I've also found medium and "very fine" scotchbrite belts to do wonderful things to metal finishes. They can really smooth out a finish and make it look nice.

Brian.
 
1. Clean grinds have less scratches.
2. the advice about turning the angle on each grit is legit.
3. IMO don't start too coarse with the hand sanding. If you can go to 400 on the machine, then start hand sanding with 400, that's the way to go. If you can only get to clean 120 on the machine, it'll be a long day with a lot of hand sanding.
 
What are you grinding with? There are slightly different answers depending on what kind of equipment you have available.
The late Tim Hancock would move from a belt grinder to a disc grinder to do the majority of his final scratch removal.
Some makers have decent luck continuing up in grit on the belt grinder only, and finishing with trizact, scotchbrite, cork, or other engineered abrasive belts.
Some makers use an array of aggressive to fine buffs after taking it to a fine enough grit on the grinder.

Ultimately, it somewhat depends on what kind of finish you're after as well as the type of grinds and grits you're starting with.
 
You should never have cross crossed scratches. If you do it means you moved on to the next grit before fully cleaning up the prior.
 
Pomsbz said:
Yup, might as well close the entire forum to new threads, why bother having an active forum?
Click to expand...

I am not trying to say people should not post questions or to come across as unwelcoming. (Which my post could definitely be taken that way.) I am not trying to be a jerk but I didn't have time to answer the question in any depth. If he wants answers quickly go look at the stickies. I am fine helping people, I just don't always have time to make a long response. :)

So first welcome to the forums and please forgive my abruptness. Pictures go a long way to and help us know what exactly is going wrong. If you have started hand sanding, criss cross scratches usually mean you need to sand more. Hand sanding will take quite a bit of time, work your way down the grits slowly, make sure you have all the scratches from the prior grit sanded out before moving on. I like to to finish the last strokes of all my grits going in the same direction too.

Here is a really good video by Nick Wheeler that will help you with a lot of your questions about hand sanding.


Here a few threads with some other pointers and good information. Good luck! if you have further questions let us know.

https://bladeforums.com/threads/sticky-threads-all-the-good-info-you-want-in-one-place.1052730/
 
Before I forget, Make sure to wear a respirator when sanding or grinding. Steel dust can have some pretty bad effects over the long term exposure.
 
I have seen it suggested that EDM or ceramic stones suggested to help shorten the time
http://www.moldshoptools.com/catalog/list.php?category_id=77

See time 8:16 at this video

I got a 150, 220, 320, 420 and they do seem to help. I got the wrong size and they are too thin to really bear down. In videos or instagram from Gough knives, I saw he has thicker stones, and said it cuts down his hand sanding by a significant amount.
 
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