Hardware finish...satin vs polished...Regular, Insingo and Umnumzaan content

peppercorn

peppercorn

Regular Dude
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
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Recently I have seen bead blasted hardware and thought it looked pretty good. Since I like to sand and scotchbright my slabs I decided to try my hand at satin finishing my hardware, to give it a more toned down look and, therefore, better contrast with the slabs. I used green scotchbright and hand rubbed each piece of hardware in a circular motion till I reached my desired result.

What do you guys think?


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Small Regulars, for comparison, the one on the left has the satin hardware, scotchbright treatment and I polished the thumbstud and backspacer.


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Small Insingo with same treatment:

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More to follow.....
 
Last edited:
I like it! I was thinking about doing that by chucking the hardware in a cordless drill and applying the scotchbrite pad to it to get a perfectly circular finish.
 
bunghole said:
I like it! I was thinking about doing that by chucking the hardware in a cordless drill and applying the scotchbrite pad to it to get a perfectly circular finish.
Click to expand...


I think that would work great, and be a lot less work. The thing I like about the uneven pattern I have created here is that it is just that, an uneven pattern, which really hides those random daily use scratches.
 
Those look Great!!! What did you polish the blue backspacer and blue thumbstud with? I was just thinking of taking the polish off those two items and the lanyard tube. Good Pics too!!!
 
Hey thanks guys!

TacBlade,
I polished the backspacers and studs with Flitz polish. A tiny amount on a thin rag just twisting the blade back and forth while you pinch the stud with your thumb and index finger will take care of the thumbstud. Also, use your finger nails with the rag to get into the recesses. The backspacer is easier.
 
That looks awesome! I really like the idea of the satin finished screws because I really am irked by those pesky scratches on the mirror finished screws! Might have to try that out.
 
I am seriously considering this, how long did it take to hand rub the screws? Did you use just the green scotchbrite?
 
NJerzy154,

Not long at all.
I used 3M green Scotchbright, pretty aggressive. I screwed the hardware together so that I could hold onto it more readily. I worked in a circle about the size of a fifty cent piece and used progressively lighter pressure so as to get the satin I wanted. If you just go hard your finish will be rougher than what you see in my pictures.
 
Also, if you do this to the thumbstud on the Umnumzaan tape the whole blade, including the edge, so you don't risk hitting it with the Scotchbright.
 
bunghole said:
I like it! I was thinking about doing that by chucking the hardware in a cordless drill and applying the scotchbrite pad to it to get a perfectly circular finish.
Click to expand...

If you have a Dremel, they make small scotchbrite wheels. Might give you better control. Would work great in those hard to reach areas of the sebenza, while a large wheel would tend to catch in some areas. Just a thought from experience.


peppercorn said:
NJerzy154,

Not long at all.
I used 3M green Scotchbright, pretty aggressive. I screwed the hardware together so that I could hold onto it more readily. I worked in a circle about the size of a fifty cent piece and used progressively lighter pressure so as to get the satin I wanted. If you just go hard your finish will be rougher than what you see in my pictures.
Click to expand...

Very Nice Work..........On all my projects, I use the Red Scotchbrite. Its less aggressive than the green I believe and leaves less scratches because of it. I use it to clean all my tools, saws, etc. and it works awsome.
 
Good advice nyefmaker, when i went to the hardware store, actually two different stores, they only had the green which is why I stumbled on the idea of using lighter pressure. I probably just need to order some red.
 
I just finished satin finishing my screws and it looks great even though my sebenza just has the plain ti scales, it looks reminiscent of the old bead blasted screws. Thanks a lot peppercorn for showing me such a cool treatment! I will be sure to pick up the red scotchbrite for future use as nyefmaker advised.
 
Peppercorn: Thanks for the heads-up (your PM about this thread)! That's my old buddy, Insingo #48-50 that I sold to you! It looks awesome with the scotchbrite finish! It's such a coincidence because just today I was looking at replacing the one I sold to you with an un-numbered Insingo. I really miss that beautiful blade shape! You have done a great job on this knife. I hope you are enjoying it!
 
Like the look You did a great job,
wondering what the Wilson Zaan would look like
 
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