Finishing/Design

swede2207

swede2207

Joined
Mar 10, 2002
Messages
323
My post is a two part question. Ive noticed some blades on this forum as being very well finished. Mine are a little rough sometimes even when i believe ive done all i can do. Right now my "finishing" consists of a 9 micron(2000 grit?) belt. Theyre plenty shiny but still have scratches. As of now i dont have a buffer,can anyone recommend a bargain model? Do i have to have it to get a good clean finish?

Now for the second part..Its about design..Do you guys just dream up blade shapes for the knife style you want to do? Is there a trick to coming up with a slick design/shape or style? It cant be all about tracing designs from books and mags..or can it? These may seem like dumb questions but they both have me a bit frustrated. Thanks.. Luke
 
Theyre plenty shiny but still have scratches.

When sanding anything you must get all the scratches out before moving to the next grit...so if you start at 80 grit you need to sand till no scratch is bigger than 80 grit will cause. When you go to 220 grit you must remove all 80 grit scratches before doubling up to the next. Bout the only way to fix it is to go back and resand, then move up the grits again to polish.

Make sure your belts and buffer pads are clean so they do not scratch the blade. I started out using a buffing pad on the end of my drill with rouge on it, now I have a 2 shaft motor with two pads on it, each with a different color rouge.
 
Find yourself a $2 auction or yardsale motor that works, and add the buffer wheel(s). Like the gentleman above my post suggests, you have to get ALL the scratches out before buffing. Back to the motor, you can usually pick them up for 1 to 5 bucks, depending on how good a horse trader you are. I picked up a like new Baldor 1hp for $5 a while back, had to work him down from the original $10. Yes, I am proud of myself, no sense of guilt at all! It sounds like you have the right idea, but just not enough sanding first.
 
Originally posted by swede2207
Right now my "finishing" consists of a 9 micron(2000 grit?) belt. Theyre plenty shiny but still have scratches. As of now i dont have a buffer,can anyone recommend a bargain model? Do i have to have it to get a good clean finish?

Now for the second part..Its about design..Do you guys just dream up blade shapes for the knife style you want to do? Is there a trick to coming up with a slick design/shape or style? It cant be all about tracing designs from books and mags..or can it? These may seem like dumb questions but they both have me a bit frustrated. Thanks.. Luke
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9 micron is about 800-1000 grit.

There have been many posts on design. There was one just a week or so ago here. Try the search feature, and specify design, and search this forum only. :D

Edited to add; just found out that 9 micron is in fact 1200 grit, not 800-1000. But, what's 200 grit between friends. Right?;) :D
 
Originally posted by Bruce Bump
Mike what grit is 6 micron? I bought a box of 50 3M from ebay for $35
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Bruce, the chart I have doesn't show 6 micron, but 3 is 4000 grit, and I was mistaken above, 9=1200 grit, so I would guess that 6 is somewhere in the range of 2000 grit.:confused:
 
Well no wonder it grinds so slow! 2000 grit?! That box will last me a lifetime. Thanks Mike. Dang
 
Here's a sandpaper grit-to-micron conversion chart for ya, courtesy of the automotive refinishing trade and our old friend Google. :)
http://www.autobodystore.com/paper_grading.htm

(edited to add) And some info from this Lee Valley micro-abrasive webpage:
"The 15 micron (approx. 1000x) removes steel quite quickly; the 5 micron (approx. 2500x) refines the edge to usable keenness; and the 0.5 micron (approx. 9000x) gives it a mirror finish."
 
Originally posted by RokJok

("The 15 micron (approx. 1000x) removes steel quite quickly; the 5 micron (approx. 2500x) refines the edge to usable keenness; and the 0.5 micron (approx. 9000x) gives it a mirror finish."
Click to expand...


15 microns is = to 600 grit. That site must be using the European P-grit equivalent.
Here's a chart I just found.
100 micron = 150 grit
60 micron = 220
40 micron = 320
30 micron = 400
15 micron = 600
9 micron = 900:eek:

Edited to add; Micro Surface abrasives use there own grading for grit, so there's some additional confusion to deal with. MS grading has no relation to any other system that I've seen.
Some of that stuff is like 18,000 grit. Some of it is used to polish plexiglass aircraft canopy's to a scratch free finish.
The stuff for metal is about the best I've ever used though, and it is called Micro Mesh MX. I use it for handrubbed finishes.
https://www.micro-surface.com/default.cfm?page_id=1
 
And to muddy the water a bit more, here's a page whose charts I'd archived long ago.
http://www.kcabrasive.com/techinfo.html#grit

IMHO the germaine statement on that page is this one:
"There is no standard process for sizing abrasive powders. typically, abrasive powders are water classified, but some manufacturers many use an air classification technique. After a material has been graded to a specific size, there are several different methods that can be used to perform particle size analysis. Consequently, particle size may vary on a given size from one manufacturer to another."

Now excuse me while my head explodes from trying to make sense of all these systems and numbers. ;)
hypnotized.gif
 
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