grits to finish?

mattd

mattd

Joined
Oct 6, 2003
Messages
252
I have been reading how to produce a real nicely finished blade. I have also found a place to buy the grits but I'm not really sure of the best way to spend my money. So I ask, How do you guys go about shining up your blades and does it differ from one steel to another, can it be done with a 1 x 30 grinder, is it neccesary to use 2500 grit, etc...? I am using 01 this time. Thanks
 
Matt,
I don't think it's necessary to go to 2000x plus to get a nice finish. I've seen some knives with a very nice finish at 400 or 600x. Most of my hunters/users are 600x, I strive for straight lines and no hooks.

I think most would agree that a well executed 600x finish is better than a poorly done 2500000000000x finish.

That being said...
After HT I go 60x, 400x then cork belt and green rouge on my grinder. 600x/1000x/1500x/2000x and on..... But more important is that the final finish is well executed.

To save money I buy my paper from Discount Abrasives on Ebay, Kim is great.
 
So a good plan to begin with is to hand sand with 600 and 800 because I already have those and then buy some 1500 and finish up with that?

Will,
I sorry, I'm too green to cut corners with.:) Do you finish up with a cork belt with green stuff and then hand sand? Does Kim have cork belts? Thanks

keep em coming please, learning a bunch! yeppee
 
Matt, you don't really need a grinder to do this (well you will to do the cork belt method) but my teacher, Dale Baxter, JS, doesn't use anything but stones and paper after he heat treats. Kim sells the cork belts, I have a spare 2x72 if you want it.

Yes, I go from the cork belt with rouge to hand sanding with a 600x. One thing I do is if I want a 1500x finish, I go to 2000x then back down to 1500x. I use cheap glass cleaner from the Dollar Tree as a lube when I sand. One thing I do is on the final 3-4 passes I use a micarta block backed with leather, I do the final pass with dry paper.

Another time saver if you don't have a big grinder is Bruce Evans' "black and decker" sander method. I used it for awhile. Go to wally world and get a 1/4 sheet palm sander, replace the bottom pad with a piece of micarta and use that. An optical visor is a must on using this method.

Steve's glass sander thing looks great, I use various micarta sanding blocks for my hand rubbing technique. I use them on edge so they're only about 1/4" wide, I get a lot of pressure with them but change paper frequently.

Good lighting and using a magnifying optical visor is a must when trying to get a good hand rub finish IMHO.
 
hey Sando how exactly does that little device work?
Click to expand...

You tear a strip of paper 11" by the width of the glass (I like 1", I have one at 2" but I use 1" more). Then clamp it using those ends.

Basically any method you can think of to hold the paper down will work. I came up with that one to get the most out of 11" paper. But you could make a shorter one and have clamps on the bottom. Then wrap the paper over the ends and clamp.
The point is having paper over glass and no clamps to get in your way.

After that you are just rubbing the blade over the paper. I find I can flatten the better moving the blade than moving the paper.

Why?

It has to do with pressure I think. With this method you put your thumbs on the blade, over the paper. This prevents you from tilting the blade off the paper and cutting a line in the steel from the edge of the paper (make sense?).

You can also change the angle of the blade to change the scratch pattern. That helps when changing grits.

Steve
 
I am ready to clean up my first blade and will hand sand it. I am having a hard time picturing all of this so I'll try it myself and then go back and read this. I'm sure it will be more help once I've tried it. If you were to order some grits from Kim what would you get? I have already got the 320 - 800 grit belt paper from her. I could hand sand with a couple of them couldn't I? Thanks for the info! At $15 a grit I want to make sure I only get the ones I need.
 
Well I'll be. That's a fancy little set-up. I think I'm gonna build me one.
 
Matt, why don't you put a good 600x finish on it? I've been looking at a knife that Rik Palm just finished that has a 400x finish on it and it's AWESOME :eek: Put the best 600x you can on it. Once you get past 600x on a user it's kinda impractical for a customer to fix if something gets dinged. With a 600x finish they can still use a pencil eraser to clean up spots.

Have you read Engnath's site? He explains it pretty well, so does Bruce Evans' site.

I really believe that you'll be impressed with a good 600x finish and so will your customers, you've got the paper just do it. ;)
 
Mattd,

Go to the hardware store and buy a couple of sheets of black 3m SC paper.

I found the price at OSH is around .80 depending on grit. If I buy 25 sheets it's about .50.

3 sheets of each grit is plenty. That's easier to swallow if you decide to switch grits.

No need for you to buy in bulk, yet. $5 and you're a happy camper.

RE that little 'device'

I think you think it's something more complex. Really it just holds the paper down. So while you are sanding you are moving the blade on the paper.

After everything is good and flat, I switch. I clamp the blade to a board and I use a steel sanding block. Now I'm moving the paper over the blade.

Steve

BadBamaUmp is right, even a 320 finish is nice. I like a 320 finish, then go in the same direction with 600 and a little 1500. You'll use probably 2 or 3 sheets of 320, then 1/2 sheet each of 600 and 1500. It isn't a true 1500 finish, but it looks very nice.
 
Steve,
I think Engnath called that a "quick and dirty" finish, it's almost as nice but not quite. I'm going to make one of those clampy thingys to try.
 
Matt,
If you're really wanting some paper up to 2000x go to a auto body supply house or if you drop me an email I'll mail ya a couple of 1000x/1500x/2000x sheets.
 
Bad Ump (Sorry couldn't resist),

If you do make one, here's a mod I wish I did:

Those center bolts where you clamp down: use wing nuts or better yet, make 'em real long and put a spring on there. That what you just pull the end piece back to change paper.

Oh yeah, one thing I did do: You know that gap between the end piece and the main piece? It holds the paper. I glued in some 100 grit so it would hold better.

.....
Dang this is too hard to describe. Here's a Pic:

sander.gif


Hope that helps,

Steve
 
This would be really easy to make. It would just waste a inch of paper:

sander2.gif


Steve
 
I am having a hard time picturing all of this so I'll try it myself and then go back and read this.

If you do not have a grinder use a hard flat sanding block. I start with 80 grit, sand until smooth. Do not move on to the next grit until you get all scratches out with the first one, then just basically double the grit till you get the finish you want (80 grit, then around 200, then around 400, etc.). Usually stop at 600 grit...had a knife I wanted to really shine, got a 6,000 grit belt that is so smooth the abrasive looks like plastic, really could not tell that big of a difference!
 
Bruz,
tnaks for the help. I'm from Cambria, I sent you an e-mail introducing myself because I saw that we are nieghbors.
 
Matt, hey neighbor! Tis a small world, maybe if there is enough of us in this area we can get together for a hammer-in or something! Your e-mail did not make it through BTW...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top