Hamon before and after...3 hours hand sanding...its done!

Those lines are the transition points between differing crystalline structures in the steel that are caused during heat treating. When a blade is heat treated under the right circumstances, you end up with differing hardnesses in the steel, with a hard edge, and a soft spine. Those differing harness structures polish and etch at different rates, allowing a knifemaker to acentuate those zones and transitions through etching, polishing, etc. The transistions on this particular knife were very very subtle above the main transistion line (the lower one). As a result, it required a very delicate polishing and etching process. The finish that resulted was beautiful, but was very fragile. Since the transistions above the main transistion line were so subtle, something as simple as pulling it in and out of a sheath or cutting cardboard would have deteriorated that delicate pattern. The result would have been a blade that lacked the beautiful pattern AND looked worse than if the whole blade was polished to a shine....not sure if that helps...
 
question for tiktock:

I would like to refinish a KH khuk I just purchased - the mirror finish on it just isn't going to hold up to the beating I plan to give it on a regular basis. if I wanted a nice, durable matte finish, how should I go about it?

you seem to know your stuff -- how about a simple step-by-step tutorial for taking a mirror finish off and setting up something tougher, more practical for heavy use?

please? huh? huh?

thanks man.
 
brokenhallelujah said:
question for tiktock:

I would like to refinish a KH khuk I just purchased - the mirror finish on it just isn't going to hold up to the beating I plan to give it on a regular basis. if I wanted a nice, durable matte finish, how should I go about it?

you seem to know your stuff -- how about a simple step-by-step tutorial for taking a mirror finish off and setting up something tougher, more practical for heavy use?

please? huh? huh?

thanks man.

What kind of steel is it? If it is stainless, you may have some troubles, and I havent etched stainless at all, so am not sure how to do so.

If the steel is any kind of carbon steel, putting a matte finish on should be fairly easy. I can write something up if that is the case, or you can find many tutorials and threads on here regarding etching. For a blade that the handles are already attached, I might stay away from etching. If there are any gaps or ares where liquid could get under the handle, you could get some corrosion going that you do not want. Additionally, some etches are actually more fragile than a mirror finish. The one pictured above was so fragile, i ended up polishing most of it away with even simichrome.

I have found that the best working finish is good old hand sanding. A 400 grit finish is great looking and is easy to re-apply. if you take your time and get all the lines going in th same direction, it looks great and is highly durable:
2.jpg


You could also put on a satin finish with a scotchbrite pad or belt or wheel, try gun kote of some type of blueing....there are a ton of options! Start a thread in shop talk describing the blade, what its made of, and the qualities you want out of the finish, and i am sure you will get lots of options. The steel makeup will be a big deciding factor for any applied finish such as etching or coating, however.
 
I did a progressive polishing with very fine emory cloth (read: wear the cloth down before using on the blade), went slow, and wound up with a fantastic finish.

It's not stainless, Tik, just good ol' leaf spring steel, magically rendered by Nepalese smiths. Thanks for the advice.

Does doing this, in any way, jeopordize the steel? I didn't take anything more than the mirror finish off...
 
But as for that detailed explanation... I am sure that my efforts could be vastly improved upon, and would love to know how. Ordered an Ang Khola khuk from Himilayan Imports yesterday, and would like to know how to do it right if that proves desireable.

Please?
 
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