How do I get a homemade satin finish?

[flatface77]

I keep ending up with mirror finishes instead of the satin finishes I want. I've taken the black finish off of a CS Recon 1 & an AK-47 & the stonewashed finishes off of 3 CS Voyagers. I work up from 600 to 2000 grit wet/dry, being careful to get those annoying machining lines out. Then I finish with Flitz. I do this all by hand.

What keeps happening is: I don't see or notice those random machining lines until I get to the 1000 or 2000 grits & end up rubbing them out at that grit. This leaves me with noticeable unevenness in the finish at that grit. It looks sanded. So I polish it with the Flitz to even out the finish & get rid of that sanded look. Inevitably, some spots look more polished than others or I over-polish a spot removing a small scratch, so I wind up with a mirror polish by the time I get the finish even.

I'd much rather end up with the even satin finishes I have on my Spydercos & Benchmades. How would I do this? Do I need new equipment? Thanks.

 

[23xdm3.8]

Try stopping at 1000 grit then use a scotch brite pad

 

[richard j]

i use either my belt sander or a scotchbrite wheel to put a satin finish on knives. you can see the wheels here http://mysite.verizon.net/ress6fq6/id22.html

if you google these numbers you can find them on line (i'm not sure which number, just google them all ) pn. 048011 gold wheel 05974 pn. 051144 red 80678

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

The heavy, deep scratches really start to stand out at about 1000 grit and higher. That's when the 'mirror' starts to develop, and any imperfections from coarser grits won't be able to hide anymore. I'd think anything between 400 - 800 grit would be ideal for a satin finish.

 

[flatface77]

I had read about Scotch-Brite pads on here but they somehow slipped my mind. The price is right, too. I still have a Voyager to take to work with me & experiment on. Thanks again.

 

[Seals]

Belt or wheel is the way to go for a even scotch brite finish.You always get the little hooks doing it by hand with pads.At least i did.

 

[flatface77]

This has me thinking about one of those motorized setups. How much does one of the cheaper models run?

 

[cochise84]

I had an old concrete mixer, i took my blades to 400 criss crossing on each grit to ensure i get those deep ugly scratches out, i simply threw my blades in the concrete mixer with some sand that i use for my sand blaster and an appropiate amount of water. And removed my blades when I had my desired finish, nice and even finish. Cost me a whole thirty bucks for the sand. If you dont have a cement mixer an assortment of cost effective solutions are available i have purchased more than one electric motor for $5-$10 dollars at garage salesAmd there are quite a few different tumbler designs, whether it be vibratory or rotational, they accomplish the same idea, different material will give you different effects, but sand is a little easier to find than porcelain stones, or even uniform natural Stone and sandblasters sand, being a crushed mineral Actually had sharper edges and better abrasion that smooth stone

 

[Fred.Rowe]

Always sand cross ways to the previous grit used. Its the best way to see those scratches you are looking to remove. You can tape an extra fine scotchbrit pad to your bench with double sides tape and draw the blade straight out from the pad. It leaves a nice clean satin finish.