How Do You Finish Your Blades?

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Messages
1,598
I'm looking for ways of finishing the blade. I am doing pretty much all hand sanding, with an 800 grit satin finish. Which obviously is the most time consuming. Getting even my 400 grit grind lines out by hand seems to take forever.
I'm looking for a way to get a satin finish, without the lines from the grind. Is this possible without sand blasting?
I love the high scandi grinds with a 1000 grit ricasso, and 400 grit grind lines. But that grind is quite difficult for me to do a lot. So I tend to stick to full flats and short scandis. (I need a KMG) :o

(Forgive me if I got the scandi type grind wrong) I literally had to Google it to see which one it was between scandi, saber, etc... lol
 
Sounds like you are going a good way without a machine to help out. I want to encourage you to stay with it.
Frank
 
Frank Niro said:
Sounds like you are going a good way without a machine to help out. I want to encourage you to stay with it.
Frank
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm just looking for new things to try but, it always comes back to doing it by hand :) The only thing that bothers me is once I put a nice hand finish on a blade its literally so hard for me not to scratch it up after doing the handles. I tape it off and am very cautious with them. I see videos of guys with their finished blades and are somewhat rough with them and they turn out great...I don't get it.
 
Well, since you are doing the taping, you can't do much more. Finished blades mark so very easily. On the folders I do, all really, I leave the final finishing be it hand or machine until all the fitting is complete. Even in dressing out animals sharp bones easily scratch blades. Perhaps you need to find a local maker that would allow you to visit. I do believe your concerns are justified. Wanting to do good work does require your attention.
Frank
 
What type/brand sandpaper are you using? I've had issues in the past hand sanding as well and some things that have worked for me are
1. Making a sanding block (check out Aaron Gough on youtube
2. Experiment with different lubrication for the paper and the blade. I used a couple of drops of clean mobile 1 motor oil and it worked wonders for me.
Wd40 for higher grits.
3. Good sandpaper and changing it often.
 
elementfe said:
...and don't forget Nick Wheeler's youtube videos on hand sanding, another great resource.
Click to expand...

was just about to suggest this as well. Nick's videos and his WIP (link available on his signature i believe) have given me more tips than most of the other makers i have visited combined. Great stuff in there from an absolutely outstanding maker who's willing to share it all in detail. There is a lot of info on Youtube.

a couple of tips i have learned are:
1. get yourself a jig to hold your blades flat and stable while sanding... saves trying to clamp the tang with blocks of wood in a vice and dealing with blade wobble while sanding.
2. make a bunch of sanding sticks in different shapes out of various materials to try them and see what works for you... if budget is an issue, start with paint stirring sticks and electrical tape.
3. +1on what greenjebadiah said "USE GOOD SAND PAPER and change it OFTEN" (this happens quickly). I use NORTON with windex (thanks to Nicks videos) exclusively until i get to 400 grit, then i switch to wet dry paper and light cooking oil or WD40 as well.
4. Get your blades as finished as possible before heat treating... it's sooooo much easier to get scratches out of annealed steel than it is at RC 59.
5. sand different grits in different directions to ensure the scratches are gone before moving to the next grit.

Hope this helps
 
here's a pic of my hand sanding set up. all made with a couple clamps from princess auto and scraps.

 
greenjebadiah said:
What type/brand sandpaper are you using? I've had issues in the past hand sanding as well and some things that have worked for me are
1. Making a sanding block (check out Aaron Gough on youtube
2. Experiment with different lubrication for the paper and the blade. I used a couple of drops of clean mobile 1 motor oil and it worked wonders for me.
Wd40 for higher grits.
3. Good sandpaper and changing it often.
Click to expand...

I made the exact block from Aaron Goughs video.
I use some pretty high grade latex backed sandpaper but I use water for the lubricant. I should try oil.
 
rustyrazor said:
was just about to suggest this as well. Nick's videos and his WIP (link available on his signature i believe) have given me more tips than most of the other makers i have visited combined. Great stuff in there from an absolutely outstanding maker who's willing to share it all in detail. There is a lot of info on Youtube.

a couple of tips i have learned are:
1. get yourself a jig to hold your blades flat and stable while sanding... saves trying to clamp the tang with blocks of wood in a vice and dealing with blade wobble while sanding.
2. make a bunch of sanding sticks in different shapes out of various materials to try them and see what works for you... if budget is an issue, start with paint stirring sticks and electrical tape.
3. +1on what greenjebadiah said "USE GOOD SAND PAPER and change it OFTEN" (this happens quickly). I use NORTON with windex (thanks to Nicks videos) exclusively until i get to 400 grit, then i switch to wet dry paper and light cooking oil or WD40 as well.
4. Get your blades as finished as possible before heat treating... it's sooooo much easier to get scratches out of annealed steel than it is at RC 59.
5. sand different grits in different directions to ensure the scratches are gone before moving to the next grit.

Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm doing everything thats said here. Including the sanding blocks, the blade clamp etc. I think my problem is I do MOST the finishing after heat treat. Maybe I'll take it up to 400+ grit before HT..... Thanks again.
 
colu41 said:
Thanks. I'm doing everything thats said here. Including the sanding blocks, the blade clamp etc. I think my problem is I do MOST the finishing after heat treat. Maybe I'll take it up to 400+ grit before HT..... Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I really noticed the difference this made recently when I decided to finish a few that were on my shelf for a long while (before I used to take them to a finer finish that is) and it took sooooooo much longer to get the scratches out. I wouldn't have believed it was the same steel.
 
colu41 said:
Thanks. I'm doing everything thats said here. Including the sanding blocks, the blade clamp etc. I think my problem is I do MOST the finishing after heat treat. Maybe I'll take it up to 400+ grit before HT..... Thanks again.
Click to expand...
For the most part, you only lose a couple of grit during the HT process, or even less from blades that are wrapped during HT. And grinding after HT is like riding a bike uphill backwards with no seat and one pedal comparitively.

And, think of decarb sort of like rust. The more surface area it has to attach to, the harder it is to get off. And decarb is some hard stuff... It will all have to go even before you are working the final face/layer of steel...

How thin you can go pre-HT is usually a function of your HT method. But you can always finish surfaces to a higher degree pre-HT. Granted on the primary bevel you may be undoing a bit of work, but the flats probably aren't changing much...

And +1 for Nick and AGough's videos...

Cheers.
-Eric
 
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