Finish Tricks

W

Will Leavitt

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Jul 28, 2006
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Some people have pm'd about how to get a good hand rubbed finish, I guess besides lots of rubbing :D So I guess I'd start another thread about finish tricks we use.

After HT I go 120 x backed, 220 jflex, 400x Gator and then a 400x Gator with white buffing compound on it (used to be a 400x cork belt.) Then off to hand rubbing. The Gator loaded with compound gives a near mirror polish that is a great base for hand rubbing.

I go 400x, 600x, 1000x and on up. I always go 1 beyond my final grit, meaning a 600x final gets a 800x then back to 600x. I use a piece of brass with sandpaper to get the plunge. I usually hand rub using a mild steel bar as a backing for the sandpaper.

When finishing I alternate between tip to butt and edge to spine on each grit making sure I clear out all the sanding marks from the previous grit. I do the blade then the ricasso. The final grit is done carefully to prevent fishhooks or j-hooks. I use the edge of the steel bar to get into the plunge then carefully pull to the tip in a straight line.

Lots of light and a magnifying loupe help to find wayward scratches.

Anyone else got tips to share?
 
That pretty much covers it for me too with the exception of after a 400x cork, I start back to 220 hand sanding then upwards and onwards. Oh, and I use and optivisor with a construction grade shop light to weed out the little nit noid bastards. If I really get a wild hair, I'll run up to catch some sunlight and then cuss a bit and go back down for the ones I missed.
 
I used to go back to 120 to start the hand rubbing, but once I stopped, I discovered that doing that took almost twice as long as starting with 220 or even 180. I use the brass bar trick and I use the edge of one of the 3M hard rubber sanding blocks for the final scratch pattern. I use a new clean section of the sandpaper each stoke and give it 10-15 runs.
 
Hand sanding mostly. start out with 120 Grit J-flex that has had it on the grinder, over a wooden half round. Then after I get all the grinding marks out with the 120g, I go to the 220 grit again J-flex that is worn out on the grinder. I try to stay in ONE direction only back and forth no diagonals or up and down. Oh all the hand sanding I do is with WD-40 as a lube until I get to 600g.
After the 220g is done and im satisfied that there are no 2" grinder marks anywhere, I go to the 400g then 600g backed by leather on the half round in one direction from plunge to all the way off the tip. After that I go over the 600g with either 1000g or 1200g dry, just to smooth it out a bit and give it a more satin look.
thats about it.
 
Questions from a starting out hobby guy....
I was hand sanding on a blade this morning and while I was doing so, as my knuckles came dangerously close to the edge, your mention of a half round backer sprang in my mind....is this the reason for it, or does it help to have a solid backing on the sand paper....or both??
I have a 1 x 42 belt sander that seems to work very well, and I would like to do as much finish work on it as I can before I get to hand rubbing.....I hear of Gator belts, and Scotch Brights......could you please educate me on these belts? And if you suggest I get some...where's the gettin place?
Thanks so much for your patience...I've found this thread to be very helpful.
R
 
I use the flat side of the half round, It's 1" hardwood dowel that I sanded flat on one side with my disk grinder. It was just something that is comfortable to me and yes you need a solid backing for the start of the sanding. I also have an old file with the leather glued onto it that I finish with. The leather is a bit softer and gives you a more uniform texture when your sanding with the higher grits.
 
With the heavier grits I like to use a mineral oil when I do the hand rub. I'll stop at 320 with the oil. Wipe the oil off and do another 320 rub with water and a little baking soda and continue with the finer grits and water. I'll stop when I can no longer feel my hands.
 
Raymond Richard said:
With the heavier grits I like to use a mineral oil when I do the hand rub. I'll stop at 320 with the oil. Wipe the oil off and do another 320 rub with water and a little baking soda and continue with the finer grits and water. I'll stop when I can no longer feel my hands.
Click to expand...
LOL.......I have found that Cool Tool works VERY well, particularly on the heavier grits. WD40 and Windex are distant second.
 
jdm61 said:
LOL.......I have found that Cool Tool works VERY well, particularly on the heavier grits. WD40 and Windex are distant second.
Click to expand...

I would prefer WD40 but there's something in it that gives me an headache as soon as I smell it. The mineral oil doesn't bother me.
 
Raymond,
I can't help but wonder if it's the propellant, not the WD-40 that causes
head aches..?

Joe,
Where do you get Cool Tool...? I use WD-40 because it works well, and
because Windex dries too fast, and water will cause the side of the blade
already finished to rust (and pit)...rather quickly.
 
Russ Andrews said:
Raymond,
I can't help but wonder if it's the propellant, not the WD-40 that causes
head aches..?

Joe,
Where do you get Cool Tool...? I use WD-40 because it works well, and
because Windex dries too fast, and water will cause the side of the blade
already finished to rust (and pit)...rather quickly.
Click to expand...
I bought mine at Wholesale Tool, I mistakenly bought some "cutting fluid" from Harbor Freight, but it came out as clingy foam.......yuck. Next time, I am going to buy a jug of Cool Tool instead of the spray can and use a pump spray bottle. What I noticed about the Cool Tool when compared to WD 40 is that Cool Tool actually seems to make the paper cut more aggresively for some reason. All of them are messy as hell, but Cool Tool isn't really any worse than WD40. Windex or Simple Green are the easiest to clean up, but you are right about having to stay on top of it so you don't get any rust. The only problem that I have with the oil based stuff is that I use a steel bar covered with duct tape as a sanding platform and the WD40 really makes for some gumminess with the glue on the tape after a while. This makes sense as WD40 is the very same "solvent" that I use to remove the gum from a blade that I wrapped in duct tape for guard and handle fitting.:D

Edit............what I have been using is Cool Tool II, not the regular stuff. Not sure what the difference is.
 
Last edited:
Raymond Richard said:
Its not the propellant in the WD40. There's some petrolium product thats in it that bothers me. I'm just a sensitive oldman.
Click to expand...

Me too, I guess. Im trying to get rid of fume pruducing lubes/solvents for
the same reason.
 
Joe,
I pretty well gave up on taping off the whole blade because of the adhesive
residue. Now I wrap the blade in a soft paper shop towel, tape it just snug,
so that I can slide it out and back as needed. I do still tape off the ricasso
with ordinary scotch tape, while touching up the guard finish.

Thanks for the Cool Tool II info....
 
Instead of windex and when I make a slip joint with a Stainless steel. I will use really soapy water, Dawn dishwasing liquid. Seems to help out on the hard stuff and deep scratches. All the tips and tricks I have been taught have helped me out alot.
Used to take me about 2 or 3 hours to hand sand a blade now it takes about 30 minutes max on a hunter type blade.
 
Russ Andrews said:
Raymond,
I can't help but wonder if it's the propellant, not the WD-40 that causes
head aches..?

Joe,
Where do you get Cool Tool...? I use WD-40 because it works well, and
because Windex dries too fast, and water will cause the side of the blade
already finished to rust (and pit)...rather quickly.
Click to expand...


Russ, a little trick Wade colter taught me is to put 2 teaspoons of bakeing soda in a quart spraybottle of water and it won't rust your blade. another one i learned from tim herman was to use odorless kerosene.
 
Is it possible to keep a crisp grind or bevel line, and hand rub a blade?
I am using EDM stones and can not, mine gets blended with the flat part of the blade.
 
It's possible. Some of the cleanest, crispest finishes I've seen were
done with stones.
How are you using them..?
 
I use surface ground steel bars for all of my initial sanding, including the plunge cut area.

For final finishing, I used to use leather, but had some trouble after the leather was old and hard. I switched to a couple different backings.

I have some 3M hard rubber from the auto paint store that I cut and glued to a steel bar. The other idea I got from John White, and that's the brick colored gasket material you can get in the plumbing department of Home Depot.

I like Windex at the real fine grits, but ONLY Windex brand. I've tried a few others and they all reacted with the blue 3M tape I put on the finished side of the blade and caused pitting. :grumpy: :mad:

Kroil works well as a lubricant for this (it's amazing for freeing up rusted bolts and such) but the smell keeps me from wanting to use it.

A pretty good general rule is to sand it till you think you're done, and then keep sanding for 30 minutes per side :)
 
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