Recommendation? Hand finish brass bolster

J

Justin W

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Jul 30, 2019
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I am in the process of finishing my first brass bolster knife. So far everything is going well thanks to guidance read here. Not perfect, obviously, but as well as I could hope on my first try.

I am at the handle finish stage. The bolster is at 2000 grit hand sanding, and the wood (unstabilized curly maple) up to 600 grit. The brass is taped now while I finish and wet sand the wood with Natural color Danish oil and wax.

Should I hand buff the brass? Or is 2000 grit satin good? I do not have a power buffer, just clean rags and compounds (green and mother's mag and aluminum polish).

Should I also hand buff the wood given it is unstabilized? I typically wet sand 2-3x at 600-800 grit, then some light passes up to 2000 ish before waxing. Will the polish I have contaminate the wood?

Thanks for all the help!
 
What's your goal with the brass? Do you want a mirror finish? If so, I'd go grab a set of buffing wheels from harbor freight or whatever, and chuck it up in your hand drill, then buff away with green, then white rouge, on different wheels.

Just tape off the handle, then it won't get contaminated.
 
I would stay with the 2000 grit satin finish. As said, tape off the n wood when finishing the brass.
I would rub in a couple coats of oil finish to the handle. Tung, Tru-oil, Watco, or any of the other popular finishes work. The trick is to put the finish IN the wood, not on it. Wet sand te finish in on every coat and wipe off after 10 minutes. Let it dry, sand a bit, then rub in another coat and repeat. 3 to 5 times will protect the handle and leave alovely finish. After it is fully dry, hand buff with a soft cloth.

TIP:
The 3M finishing papers are perfect for handle work. They come in a color-coded pack of 9X11 sheets ranging from 400 grit to 8000 grit. The soft cloth-like paper will conform to any curvature. They last a very long time, too. Most knife suppliers., as well as the online sellers like Amazon carry it:
 
Do you use the 3m papers for wet sanding too? Or more for the brass and dry sanding the wood? 2500 grit makes a nice finish on steel, but it'll show a new scratch much worse than 600 grit satin. I would imagine 8000 grit looks great, but not for long.

I am curious about brass. Does polished brass resist tarnish or scratches better? Does satin hide scratches better?
 
Bras will darken unless coated with lacquer. That isn't a suitable method for a knife.
Brass is soft and will scratch.
On a mirror polish, every touch will make a mark. It will not be high polished for long and will look worn.
You will have to touch it up in the future, no matter what you do. I find a fine-sanded finish will look better and last longer.


The old saying, "Brass has no class" was because of its tarnishing and scratching easily. I find brass is a nice material, but you have to accept its properties.
 
I agree with most of the above, just adding my two cents worth of wisdom.

Everything you use will show wear after a while, even titanium. And yes brass will show it faster than titanium, especially with a mirror polish.

I personally like natural wear and patina. It ads to the story and at least for me, the ability to take a patina and not lose value is what differentiates a custom knife from a mass produced one.

But a mirror polish is more resistant to oxidation due to a smaller surface and more closed structure. Less chemicals will stick to it.

You can improve the resistance to staining slightly by using a pollychristaline wax, I use renaissance wax but don't know if that's available at your side of the pond.

And of course you can always already put a patina on...
 
Aged brass can look good, shiny looks behh imho.
It does scratch from only looking at it or putting it in a sheath.
Better have a fine scatch pattern tip to bitt
 
I've used brass, copper, stainless, nickel, stag and wood over the years for bolsters. I keep coming back to brass and use nothing else these days. I think that a lot of folks like the look of worn. I know I often get knives in for new sheaths and before I automatically polish up the bolster and handle and sharpen the knife I ask the owner. Bout half the time they want it left alone.
 
I've found customers like using Brasso to clean their bolsters and gives them satisfaction like cleaning a rifle when they sharpen their knives.
 
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