HAnd Rubbed Finish?

B

Bushbow

Joined
Jul 6, 2003
Messages
29
Ok I have the handle in place and really like how this knife has turned out but wouldlike to spiff up the blade a bit. Are you useing wet sand paper to rub the blades by hand? I think this would work but I though I would ask the experts in case there is a better/easier way.

Thanks - Bob Urban

By the way the knife I am talking about is the same one I ask the Pinning the slabs question about and I still do not have a photo yet, Sorry.
 
I may not be an expert but as I didnt have any power tool to grind/sand/poolish and i was hand rubbing all of my work for couple of years here i thought i would be helpful to a degree.

The stones for grinding are fine but all i have is slicon/carbide wet&dry papers from 100 grit to 2000 and they are sperb for this bussiness. Up to 800 i use hard steel block to back the paper. You have to be very careful to clean the work & workplace from the carbide dust or you'll mess the finer grits up. Befor you move up, check different sources of lights at different angles that you completely grind the lower grits. If you want to mirror you finish with 1000 , 1500 and 2000 (maybe higher if you want) papers but softer backing blocks. I use wooden blocks for 1000 and sponge for higher.

Thats all i can say about hand rubbing.

Ps. I always rub at one direction, usually from back of the blade to tip. There are several methods to this issue...
 
Just for future reference, I think you'd want to finish your blade before hand rubbing. You'll leave a small space near the handle or guard that doesn't have the same finish as the rest of your blade.
 
I don't really "hand rub" my blades.

Instead I put a number of sheets of newspaper (a few, not too many) on the table, put the sand paper overlapping the edge, clamp it all down, and rub the knife over the sandpaper, using the edge of the table to get into the plunge.

When hand sanding, you might have to be careful of grindlines if the knife has any. If it doesn't, then just sand away.

Use fresh sand paper which "cuts" well. It makes your life easier, don't scrounge on sandpaper.

If anyone sees anything wrong with my method then point it out ! I'm only a newbie to this stuff :)
 
Actually that's a pretty good method Skinny. A few years ago someone was making sanding plates for this very purpose. The edges had different radii (?) for different sized plunges.

If there are grind lines, eliminating the newspaper will help to keep them sharp.
 
Thanks guys. I figured there was a post out there that talked about this but I have the darndest time finding what I am looking for in the archives.

I also figured I should have done more finishing before the handle went on but I am impatient. The blade is from an old, very large, carbon blade/tool that I reshaped to the knife I have now. It has some slight pitting which I do not mind but I did want to spif it up a little.

Next one will get finished before the handle goes on.

Bob Urban
 
Dave

I found that I could really apply a lot of pressure when sanding, which helped quicken the sanding process a lot, so I thought it worked pretty well.

Getting into the plunge is still a problem, needs a lot of sanding on its own.
 
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