Finishing Problem

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse

Joined
Sep 13, 2007
Messages
90
Merry Christmas,
I've got a problem that may seem minor but, I have been hand sanding my blades up to 1000 grit, encluding the spine around the scales. OK everything is great, then the scales are attached, and as you are working the scales down to the knife profile I destroy my finish on the spine and it is almost impossible to reestablish back to a mirror finish. Is there a trick to this, or do you just start again and work them back up to 1000 grit.
I know this is hard to explain, but I am hoping someone understands what I doing.
Thanks in advance.
 
I just make sure all, and I mean all, tool marks are removed before scales are attached. Then I work the scales down by hand with a rasp and a file until the file almost touches the tang. Then I finish the area around the spine with a 600 grit ceramic belt. When I buff out the scales the spine will shine right up.
 
I feel for you but the way I do it is to not even bother finishing the spine until I get the scales down to size. In the future you could just temporarily pin or bolt the scales in place, size them then finish the spine.
 
I have the exact same problem. I used equipment from another knifemaker that I havn't been able to buy yet. I use his grinder to smooth it out at a lower speed than my grinder. Then I pass it through a grinding wheel with a medium de-burring polishing wheel. and that gives me a smooth finish. You could then hand polish up to what ever grit you want. From my limited experience this has worked for me.
-frank
 
Will Leavitt said:
I feel for you but the way I do it is to not even bother finishing the spine until I get the scales down to size. In the future you could just temporarily pin or bolt the scales in place, size them then finish the spine.
Click to expand...

I do it the same way,

rough shape everything then apply final finish after glueup
 
I hand finish only my ricasso and blade flats prior to attaching the scales.

I rough profile the scales and spacers (not shaping, just cutting the block to profile) and then pin and epoxy everything together. After it's set up, I tape the blade up for protection. The first step for me is to remove any excess pin/thong tube, and then I run the spine and finger side of the handle against the platen to square the shoulders of the knife and remove any epoxy squeeze out. Then I shape the scales to finished shape. After that, I use a 400 grit belt on my contact wheel and run the spine against it so the scratch marks run lengthwise on the spine. On the finger side of the handle, I do as much as I can on my contact wheel, and do the rest (finger groove) with a dremel sanding drum with 400 grit paper contacted to it. From there, I move up to whatever grit I want on the spine by hande to match what I did on the blade/ricasso. FYI, the spine can get very hot running against the contact wheel, so make brief passes and let the spine cool several seconds between passes so as not to weaken your epoxy bond.

--nathan
 
silver_pilate said:
I hand finish only my ricasso and blade flats prior to attaching the scales.

I rough profile the scales and spacers (not shaping, just cutting the block to profile) and then pin and epoxy everything together. After it's set up, I tape the blade up for protection. The first step for me is to remove any excess pin/thong tube, and then I run the spine and finger side of the handle against the platen to square the shoulders of the knife and remove any epoxy squeeze out. Then I shape the scales to finished shape. After that, I use a 400 grit belt on my contact wheel and run the spine against it so the scratch marks run lengthwise on the spine. On the finger side of the handle, I do as much as I can on my contact wheel, and do the rest (finger groove) with a dremel sanding drum with 400 grit paper contacted to it. From there, I move up to whatever grit I want on the spine by hande to match what I did on the blade/ricasso. FYI, the spine can get very hot running against the contact wheel, so make brief passes and let the spine cool several seconds between passes so as not to weaken your epoxy bond.

--nathan
Click to expand...

Sorry for the dumb question Nathan, but how do you attach 400 grit paper to a dremel sanding drum (or do you buy them that way?)

Thanks!
 
PJ, use contact cement and make sure it overlaps "with" the rotation so it doesn't get pulled off (hope that makes sense)
 
I could never find high enough grit sanding drums to use, so I started using paper instead. I bought the largest sanding drum I could find for a dremel, and then buy the adhesive backed sand paper sheets in whatever grit you like (i.e. those used in palm sanders). Cut the paper into strips wide enough to fit the drum and roll them onto the drum. Don't turn the rpms too high, and make sure to sand in the direction that the paper is rolled (so it doesn't catch the paper's edge and unroll on you). It's not perfect and takes a couple of times to get it right, but with some practice, it'll do a decent enough job of getting things fairly uniform. Make sure to hold the drum flat on the spine, becuase it's easy to get the wrong angle. After that, it's back to hand paper to finish.

I can't wait for my KMG and small wheel attachment to get here!

--nathan
 
Dope! Will beat me to it with a much more concise answer than my rambling scrawl :).

Also, they do make 400 grit flap sanders for dremels that are readily available, but I've never tried them on a knife.

--nathan
 
I have to be concise or else I'd be exposed as the dummy I am :) I prefer "terse" as an adjective because it makes me seem more grouchy. :p Get out of my yard you rotten kids!!!!!!
 
Thanks for the input, I can see from your response that this is everybody's problem to some degree. I thought I was the only one and there was some trick I was missing. Thanks for the input, at least I know that I am on the right track.

Merry Christmas
 
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