hand rubbed finish - how to advice needed

F

fartcutter

Joined
Sep 17, 2000
Messages
24
Greetings,

A friend gave me a Kellam Knives Pukko that has a (forged?)carbon blade. It had rusted out on him.

I want to make it real purty. I don't have any grinding equipment...thus it's elbow grease.

It has a flat ground blade and I wrapped some sand paper around a small piece of plastic and started sanding. The rust is off and I'm making headway. I've sanded out some of the original grind marks at the top towards the spine and at the bottom by the edge. But even though it's a flat grind I don't seem to be sanding down the middle of the blade.

Is there a better way besides wrapping the sand paper around something with a straight edge?

Also, what motion should I be sanding...such as a circular motion.

Currently I'm using 400 grit...what's the standard finish grit for a "nice" finish?

Thanks,

FC

 
FC-

I like to use CoolToolII cutting oil to help the paper cut better/faster, and get a better finish. Baby oil works very similarly.

I use hard-wood blocks wrapped with abrasive to achieve a satin finish. I also have a sanding plane, that I pull abrasive cloth over. This gives me a flat surface, that I make stationary in the bench vise, then I move the blade against the abrasive, and not vice versa.

I like a 600 grit finish, but a clean 400 is nice too. I think that's all personal preference.

Good luck
smile.gif

Nick
 
I'm like Nick in that I move the knife on the paper, not the paper on the knife. I like to use pieces of glass with the paper glued. I use glass partly because I'm cheap and it's free, partly because it's really flat.
I don't have cool tool or baby oil handy so I've had good luck using someones suggestion of using a spray 'oil' (old age - can't think of the name of it right now).
Cheaply, Lynn
 
One thought is that it may not be flat ground. Some knives are ground on large diameter wheels that give the appearance of a flat grind but have a resulting radius similar to what you are describing.
 
This is the way I hand-rub a blade: After grinding the blade to a 600 grit I go ahead and satin finish the blade with a 400 grit this is so I don't have to work so hard to remove any scratches. I have a precision flat piece of micarta and if I am going to be finishing a hollow ground blade, I have a radius piece of micarta that fits the groove. I use the hard blocks to establish a scratch pattern and then I use the same style blocks with leather to unifie the finish. Finely to make sure all scratches are going in the same direction and are consistent, I use a pink eraser for support.
I like 400 grit over 600 or 1200, because it gives the knife a richer appearance. The finer grits to me look like milky water.
I hope this helps,
Allen Elishewitz
 
Yes, thank you for the additional feedback. It may not be flat ground after all. I've worked off the original grind marks and it's looking pretty good. The problem is with the pitting from the rust. Those are a bitch and I don't know if I can get them out because they are in the middle of the blade...which seems to be the most difficult to reach.

At any rate I did polish one area up to 1500 grit and never did get a nice mirror polish. More or less a real dirty mirror finish.

Is a mirror polish possible on carbon steel?

I can reall appreciate power tools.

Thanks,

FC

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"Fartcutter has mastered the silent but deadly maneuver." Tactical Farting Institute
 
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