full tang knives wood handle...so how do you polish the pins?

Daniel Rohde

Daniel Rohde

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Jul 22, 2014
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I have had allot of trouble polishing(mirror polishing) the metal pins on full tang knives with non-stabilized wood handles the pores seem to get all black and everything...so is there a better way to do this?
Thanks
Daniel
 
There are a few tricks, but they all are various methods of trying to not "smear" the swarf.

Fresh and sharp abrasives and tools!!!!
File/sand carefully and gently to avoid "rubbing in" the swarf.
Take a stroke one direction followed by one from the opposite. This lifts away the swarf from of the previous stroke.
When final finishing the pins, place a piece of tape with a hole punched in it over the pin and carefully hand buff.
Leave the pins in a sanded finish.
Use stabilized wood and materials that don't have pores.
Fill the pores before final sanding. Good grade sanding sealer applied in several coats and
 
Another way to keep lighter materials from turning black is to use AO paper instead of SC paper. The AO is much lighter in color than the black SC which means a lighter colored swarf.
Stacy is right about filling pores. If the pores aren't filled before finishing you will get some discoloration no matter what method you use. Properly stabilized wood is a BIG time saver when finishing a handle.
 
Daniel, what wood are you using? I have not had this problem and I just sand them with the wood and they turn out good. However, I have only used Desert ironwood, Bolivian Rosewood and curly maple, that are not stabilized. I sand to 600 or 1000 grit, finish and buff. I will say the only one of those that has much pores is the curly maple. When I get to 600 grit I dampen it with a wet paper towel to stand the grain up and sand, but that shouldn't have much effect on staining from the sandpaper.
 
That's interesting Darrin. I didn't know that about SiC paper.

If that is the case, may I suggest 3M Sandblaster Pro paper? They may not make it to a fine enough grit as it is designed for wood, but the synthetic abrasive does work pretty well on metals. It's great stuff and can be found at the big box hardware stores.
 
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