How do I mirror polish my blade?

C

counsel-of-record

Joined
Jan 10, 2001
Messages
71
I want to put a mirror polish on one of my knives. Can I do this by hand or do I need a machine? Is it alot of work? Any info greatly appreciated.
Bill
 
Bill, achieving a mirrored finish (high polish) is surprisingly easy. Begin by stripping the current finish with 600-800 grit black (wet/dry) sandpaper, being sure to keep the sandpaper moving horizontally with the blade. Once the old finish vanishes, move up to 1200 grit, then 1500 grit. By now you'll have a very nice satin finish.

Now you'll need a Dremel tool ($30-$50) along with a few extra felt wheel attachments. Lightly coat the felt wheel with either Flitz or Simichrome polish, and polish the blade at a low speed. The mirroring will begin to appear. Continue until your reflection shows perfectly.
This entire process takes maybe 2-3 hours from start to finish. Wear safety glasses so that specs of Flitz/Simichrome polish don't jump into your eyes. It BURNS!

Here's a pic of my daily carry Microtech LCC/DA that I recently mirrored. When it gets slight scratches, I simply hit it with the Dremel and Flitz for a few minutes, and the blade returns to perfection. The reflection that you see upon this blade is my arm holding the camera. Happy mirroring to you!

LCCDA.JPG
 
Does a Dremel with Kratex tips work instead of the sandpaper ?
I have a whole box of Kratex stuff from polishing gun parts.

Oh yeah, does the knife need to be dissasembled ???
I would like to polish a benchmade auto (2550) but don't want to take it apart.
 
Bill, you're very welcome! Please let us know how your project turns out. :)

slicer, the kratex tips will cause a terrible "swirling" effect upon the blade. I've tried them myself and can't recommend them at all. And yes, your best bet is to disassemble the knife in order to have just the blade in your hand. If it's ultra sharp, then by all means wear leather or suede gloves during the polishing to protect your hands. Disassembly is pretty much essential for an even mirrored effect, otherwise you'll have parts near the scales or hilt that you just can't adequately reach with the Dremel.
 
Eric:

I have a few mirror finished blades that appear to look like your LCC. However, I have a couple handmades from a knife maker (who is in business as a metal polisher along with knife making) and his finishes almost look as tho the blade was somehow coated. It's difficult to describe but in the right light it almost looks like there's a palm print on the blade, with the tiniest gaps in the finish, it's not an even finish.

Is there some sort of electroplating or other short cut being nade here? The Spyderco Moran fixed blade has this appearance. Am I just seeing things?:confused:
 
Nice post Eric. I've used my Dremel with felt tips to polish out scratches on satin blades and it works very well.
 
Eric,

Thank you very much for your excellent description. I will use your technique in an attempt to remove some ugly scrathes that I managed to put onto the beautifully polished blade of my Spyderco Micarta Calypso Jr.

Cheers, Jeff/1911.
 
I have a couple of the Spydie Moran mirror finish knives and they both exhibit this effect. I have read of others seeing this also, especially under strong direct light. I believe its a property of the VG10 steel, as I have seen it in the Calypso also, butt to a lesser degree as it is not as highly polished. Others have described it as a "wave" effect.
 
I've noticed that effect on some knives.
I've also observed that knives that have been hand rubbed to a mirror finish don't show that as much as blades that have had a whole lot of buffing.
I think the wheels put groves into the metal because of uneven pressure and uneven concentrations of the buffing compounds.
That's just my theory though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top