Hand Rubbed Finish

[KNelson]

Meh, tried em' and didn't care for them.

My suggestion is the same today, as it was 4 years ago. Come off the belt and/or disc as clean as you can. Use good paper. Start hand sanding with the highest grit possible but don't be afraid to drop down in grit if necessary. The following grit must be in a bias direction to the prior. Also, I use to use a lubricant but don't find it necessary any more.

Here's a Hunter I'm working on. It's at a clean 400 grit.

awesome looking blade and such a clean finish! also super clean hands, what soap do you use!!?? haha, seriously?

 

[Maelstrom78]

I would also say that I swap out paper very quickly. Once it starts to skate it's gone. I used to be a sandpaper miser but now after I'm done sanding my floor has so many pieces of sandpaper it looks like a ticker tape parade.

I have found that sanding the blade with a small trickle of water seems to both make the paper cut well longer and the whole job go faster. I did the same thing with my last micarta handle and that ( to me ) was more dramatic on speeding up the process.