Frustration

Langadune

Langadune

Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
212
This might be a little more venting than actual question...

I've been making some pretty good progress on my Christmas gift knives. In fact, all two are mostly finished, one of which now lacks only sharpening. That being said... tonight has been one of those nights. My final remaining blade, hardened 154cm has been giving me fits. I got to 320 grit and noticed several left over scratches. Go back to 220, not good enough. Back to 120, ok that did it. Back up to 220, better. 320... maybe getting there but taking FOR-EV-ER... and doggonit, I haven't been paying attention and am down to my last sheet of 320 Rhynoline... I have a bunch of 3m wood type 320 but I take it will take more forever. I was hoping to get this one up to 600 by tonight but dangit... no dice.

Sheesh.
 
yeah take a breather and get some more Rhyno tommorow. I am familiar with pushing the low grit a bit too hard, trying to save time and then just making tons more work for myself
 
I have a great deal of experience screwing things up. Usually when applying the final touches on an edge that I've worked on for far too long.

Couldn't agree more with the others. Even if you can only step away for a few minutes, do it. Do something to take your mind off of it, drink a soda, watch your favorite show, then get back at it when you're in a better state of mind. A motorcycle ride (if you do that) works wonders for me.
 
Good advice guys. Thanks. That's pretty much what I did. I shut her down and went inside to unwind with a beer. A motorcycle ride would have been great, but it's 14 degrees.
 
Are you sanding at a different angle to the blade's length when you go up in grit? It's really the only way to know for sure if you're sanding all the previous grit's scratches out.

And a lot of new guys (I was guilty of this!) will get all but a few scratches out, and be so excited about moving forward with the blade, they'll think, "I'll just get those out with the next grit."

:eek: Sure ya will... ;) :foot: :D

If a scratch is giving you fits at 220X, then it's just going to laugh at you with 320X.


So--- !!!!!<<< Do NOT progress to the next grit until you have made sure the entire area you're sanding is at the same grit. And don't trust what you see with the blade clamped down. Pick it up, turn it over and around, front to back, tip to butt, side to side... in several different light sources, before you decide you're ready to move to the next grit. >>>!!!!!


On paper, this almost seems silly to mention, as it's so obvious... But when a new maker is standing at the bench with a sanding block in his hands and he's tired and frustrated... it's not nearly so obvious. ;) :)
 
Thanks Nick. I did learn early on to change the angle of my sanding with each grit. And you're right, sometimes I think I'm almost done with a grit and stand up and boom... there's another scratch I didn't see before. I think part of my problem right now might be that I see the finished product so close at hand and sanding is (for me) the most tedious part. Patience and Persistence... that has become my mantra.
 
154CM is tough to sand after heat treat. I sand to 400 grit, and send to Paul Bos heat treating. The blades come back scale free and I can then start sanding with finer grits.
Also, have a good light source when you sand so you can see the scratches.
 
Tough to sand is proving to be very true. I'm considering sanding to 320/400 and hit it with a scotchbrite belt.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Took a break, went back to it last night, and things went much better. Used up my last sheet of Rynowet 320. Patience and Persistence. It really makes the difference.
 
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