From black to blacker and more shine?

[mthall47]

Crazy question here.
A lot of the knives I am interested in for my next purchase all have non reflective black blades. I have only a couple of very shiny, reflective black blades which I like, but not in a knife I want.
IF I get a non reflective black blade is there a kind of polish I can use such as Simichrome, Flitz, Metal Glo, etc, that would make the color become a deeper, richer black + add some shine?? SOmeone locally said to try black shoe polish but do not know how that would work on metal.
It is simply a matter of looks.
Please give me your thoughts on this.

Thanks.

 

[Blackhearted]

i am no expert - im sure a knifemaker can give you more info (although not many handmade blades are black coated, heh).. but if the blade has a crinkle-coat on it then it is designed for durability of the finish - to slow the wear of it during use. if you were to polish/smooth it you would be shortening the lifespan of the finish. many also assume that a finish is sprayed onto a gleaming perfect blade: this is not usually the case. often a finish not only protects, but hides a dull blade and imperfections. most of the time its just a matte finish on the blade, and the coating is then sprayed onto that. many finished - like TiNi will go on glossy on polished surfaces but will go on very matte on bead-blasted or unfinished surfaces.

personally, im not a huge fan of coated blades. i use pretty much every knife i have at some point or other, and with a black finish the first few serious cuts are going to leave scuffs/scratches on the blade. so if you want all of your knives looking perfect, you might as well just never use your black coated ones, heh.
with a black coated blade ill usually just go out into the woods and hack away with them a bit, to 'break them in' and start wearing the finish. from that point on i no longer worry about how the finish looks, or protecting the finish

 

[Planterz]

Depending on the coating, you might be able to use a high grit (1200+) sand paper and give it a light, uniform scuffing. That should give it enough of a dullness that it wouldn't catch light. I wouldn't go any lower grit, as you might sand more away than you'd want to. DLC coating might be rather difficult, since that stuff is very tough.

 

[SIFU1A]

WD40 makes some black finishes shine like ya are talking about, thats the only thing i know of.

 

[Planterz]

Er, I notice now that I gave you the complete opposite advice you were asking for. Whoops.

 

[Unicorn1]

I've gotten my Benchmades to shine a bit more by using Johnsons Paste wax. A floor type wax. Car wax also will work.

 

[george tichbourne]

Paste wax smooths and fills the surface to give a smoother more light reflective surface. I suggest a non coloured paste wax like Renaissance wax or Johnstons paste wax.