hand blade finishing

Some years back on good advice from Bruce Evans, I started using a palm sander. Replace the rubber surface with Micarta. You can radius a couple of the edges of the Micarta to match your normal plunge. This saves much of the pain! And a whole lot of the time. You will still finish by hand.

I use Cool Tool II as a lube, which works great. But one thing I heard is "water cuts, oil polishes." That's true, and why I believe glass cleaner works so well to remove prior scratches.

Despite my cheap nature, I do subscribe (by dint of experience) to the notion, "abrasives are free.: They're not exactly free but they're a whole lot cheaper than your time and frustration. Sharp abrasives give sharp definition.

One final suggestion. On your final passes, use the sharp edge of a wooden block, use fresh grit on each pass, and rub dry. I usually true up the edge of the block for each side. Brass would work for this too, I'm going to try that soon.

Good thread! Finish is everything.
 
Thank you all. My learning curve is getting a little better. I am on the other side of the blade and things are going alot better. I can see finishing a blade with shaping and finishing in a couple of nights in the future. Thank you for the info. Dave, I have been using water as my lubricant, didn't know it cuts and oil polishes, makes alot of sense though. With the sand paper issue I just have to find a better place to get some. Thank you all for the links.
 
One thing that using something flat and hard like brass or steel does is immediately show you if you have any little divets in the blade.
 
Rub Rub will do the job. Its always the some thing on all the knives. But its alway the right way to do it. You will be happy you did at the end of the job. :thumbup:
 
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