how do i buff out scratches?

[Legenda]

ok so on my little bowie knife there are some scratches in the blade from when i honed it and accidentally went off the edge of the stone with the blade. how can i get these scratches out of the blade? thanks guys.

 

[shadowspawn]

You could always progress down with finer grits of sandpaper/stones. Once you start getting to the 1500+grit, you'll start getting that "mirror" finish.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Depends on how coarse the hone was that made the scratches. If it was fairly coarse, and the abrasive very aggressive (like diamond or silicon carbide), the scratches will be deeper and tougher to remove (but not impossible; it'll just take more time). The basic idea is to start with a grit that's one step finer than what made the scratches initially, and use it until the original large & deep scratches are replaced by the finer scratches. Then use progressively finer grits, in narrow increments, to repeat that process. If the blade is polished, you'll likely need to go to 2000 grit (silicon carbide wet/dry sandpaper) or higher, and finishing with polishing compound, to restore that. If it's a satin finish, then 400 to 800/1000 grit (to finish) will probably do. Keep the sanding strokes in one direction only, for each grit (not circular or back & forth), and shift the direction 90 degrees with each grit, which will help ensure the previous grit's scratches are completely erased.

The other option is to just leave it as is, if the knife is a user.