Finishing questions

D

Daniel Swanson

Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
55
Ive recently taken a dive down the rabbit-hole of buffing/finishing/rouge/polish/etc, and now I have more questions than answers.
I have been just doing hand-sanded finishes. For my hamons, Ive been taking them to 1000 grit and then etching in 1:4 FC/distilled water for about 5-10 cycles (1 minute down to 10 second dips, polishing with flitz on a paper towel in between). Ive been somewhat unhappy with how the hamons have turned out - I get more of a blurry grey line and not much ashi. 1080/1084. Im honestly kinda done with hamons at this point.
My question is, for a full flat grind or a partial flat grind (leaving some forge scale on the spine), do I need anything other than sandpaper and elbow grease? Is there any point in buying a buffing machine and a bunch of wheels and compounds? Would that eliminate the tedium of hand sanding or significantly reduce the hand sanding?
Also, how many of you use your buffing machine for handle work? Again, I just hand sand my handles up to 400 or 600 grit and then use tru-oil, OOOO steel wheel in between coats, and buffing with wax after 3-4 coats of oil. Im pretty happy with how they turn out, but is there any role for a buffing wheel?
How would I finish san mai, if I were to buy a billet and make a stock removal knife with it? Can I get by with my same hand-sanding and etching process that I used for my (admittedly poor) hamons?
 
Hey Daniel,

I think your main problem with the hamon is that you are using the wrong steel... 1080-84 gardeners too easily to get good hamon activity. You need something like W2 to get really good activity.

There really isn’t much of a way to get around hand sanding other than to build a machine to do it. If you use the custom google search you’ll find a couple guys who have build sanding machines. PEU is one if I remember correctly.

Take your knives up higher on the grinder before you start hand sanding. It’ll make your job easier. Also look up “hand sanding 101” on YouTube by Nick Wheeler, it’ll help.
 
Thanks for the advice on 1080/1084, I chose that simply because of the ease of heat treatment (I heat treat with my forge but will be sending out my blades for HT if I use anything other than 1080).
I've watched the Wheeler video several times and I follow his protocol, love that technique. The finish comes out pretty well and Ive found that the better I get at sanding on the belt, with less facets and divots, the easier it is to hand sand. For now, Im definitely keeping Redline in business.
I guess my question was less about how to hand sand, and more about whether I should buy a buffer, and also how to get a nice result with san mai. I bought some san mai stock and want to make sure I do it justice. Its 1095 and 15n20.
 
Well I haven’t done any San Mai, and I don’t have a buffer so I really can’t give you any info on that!
 
Using buffers (you will probably need more than one) is an acquired art. Yes, they can replace most or all hand sanding-but it will require experimentation and lots of equipment and supplies.
Not trying to discourage you- just stating facts. Most people never learn how to use buffers.
 
I use buffers all the time on handle materials, bolsters etc. I have an eight foot work bench with 5 buffers mounted on it although I only use four. Buffing is an art and each different type of handle material responds differently. For instance what I do and the compounds I use will differ from sheephorn to ironwood, from smooth bone to micarta all different.
 
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