Hand sanding

[peter r]

To what grit do you guys grind your blades before hand sanding the finish?

On a similar note. To what grit for bead blasting and stonewashing?

 

[james terrio]

Lately, I generally grind to 400 then start hand-sanding at 220.

 

[tryppyr]

Wait... are you saying there are machines for sanding?

I have a number of belts for my 1x30, going up to 800 grit. Mostly, I use the 120 grit belts, though, and do just about everything else by hand. I use the higher grit belts and the fancy ones when I'm trying to take it slower and when working on something other than steel.

- Greg

 

[Makermook]

Speaking strictly for myself, I do hardly any machine grinding if I can get away with it. Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that all I have is a 1"x30" Harbor Freight P.O.S. sander/grinder to work with!

Using it, what grinding I do is over after 40 or 80 grit. After that, it's straight to the drawfiling/sanding station.

Now, my setup is rudimentary. My little sander has a minuscule platen and it's really only useful for grinding away mass. But if I had one of the more serious-sized sander/grinders, it might be a different story.

So there's a nice non-answer for you

 

[nivejuncky]

I generally grind to 600 grit and start off hand sanding at about 220-320 up to 400 for satin finish, up to 600 then to the buffer for a nicer polish.

 

[AcridSaint]

I'm a fan of go all the way to a buffed mirror before hand sanding, though not every knife gets the same treatment.

 

[jonnymac44]

I'm a fan of go all the way to a buffed mirror before hand sanding, though not every knife gets the same treatment.

Acrid, now that is some serious dedication......or you simply have way too much time on your hands!!


I often use a belt finish on my knives. The 3M gators and the Norton Norax structured abrasives leave a really great finish. Sometimes though, I do like to do a nice hand rubbed satin. In that case I would grind to 400 on the grinder and then would start with 280 grit since I use Rhynowet paper and that is the grit they make closest to 220.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

If I'm going to blast a blade, I take it up to 400 - 600 grit. A blasted knife looks horrible if it has a poor base finish.

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

120# is the finest zirc belt I can get for my grinder. So it's hand sanding from there.

 

[AcridSaint]

Acrid, now that is some serious dedication......or you simply have way too much time on your hands!!


I often use a belt finish on my knives. The 3M gators and the Norton Norax structured abrasives leave a really great finish. Sometimes though, I do like to do a nice hand rubbed satin. In that case I would grind to 400 on the grinder and then would start with 280 grit since I use Rhynowet paper and that is the grit they make closest to 220.

Hey Johnny - it's not really that much work. There's a whole lot less hand sanding involved than there is when you go through a grid progression starting at 320 or 400 or whatever. Put a mirror on it and then you can choose whatever grit finish you'd like and put it on with a few pulls.

By no means the only way I finish a knife, but if it's going to be hand sanded I think it's a great way to do it.

 

[Sparljo]

usually 120, sometimes only 80.

Have to start handsanding with coarser paper, but it still works just fine. (For a satin-ish finish, have never sand or bead blasted myself)