how do you guys get a satin finish?

B

bartblade

Joined
Nov 4, 2002
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i was in the shop for all of 20 minutes before i had enough of the cold. finishing up some deep scratch removal on my next blade; using a palm sander and down to my last sheet of papper i decided to use it wet and being a convex grind i couldnt get water to stay on the blade at all so i went redneck and spitt on it and not only got 95% of the scratches out but also ended up with a pretty sattin finish.

oh ya this blade is for a buddy i car pool with to work and ride with when the weather permitts. he has a harrley sport and i have a suzuki bandit what a match huh:D anyway now i can tell him it was made with hard work and spitt instead of blood and sweat since ive been freezing my toes while woking in this weather
 
Bart, what are you backing the paper with on the palm sander? Is it the soft sponge or did you replace it with a something hard like micarta? I replaced the sponge on my sander with micarta. Instead of water try window cleaner, the cheap stuff from Dollar General works or splurge on some Windex.
 
Will Leavitt said:
Bart, what are you backing the paper with on the palm sander? Is it the soft sponge or did you replace it with a something hard like micarta? I replaced the sponge on my sander with micarta. Instead of water try window cleaner, the cheap stuff from Dollar General works or splurge on some Windex.
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Will try some WD-40 it stays a lot longer.
satin finish
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hand rubbing works, Bead blasting , etching, a controlled clean up from the heat treat. are a few ways.. :)
 
Vibratory tumbler and ceramic media here. Nice frosted finish that hides scratches.
 
Nathan, how long are you tumbling? I've seen some experimenting done with it but it seems to take an awfully long time to get results.

I used windex for a while but found that I like simple green the best for lube.

Scotch-brite belts can make a nice machine finish if you take the blade up high first. I like to go with a hand rubbed finish better. I've been told that black rouge is called "satin rouge" because it's coarse enough to give a satin finish on a buffer or cork belt. Might be something to try out.
 
bartblade said:
still using the origonal backing for now. windex huh dose it still make the slurry
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Yes it makes a slurry. You need to replace the rubber backing with something hard like micarta to get all the scratches out. With a soft backing like sponge, rubber or leather the paper will kinda "hop" over some scratches, at least that's my experience with using a palm sander.
 
The next time you start to hand rub the blade out. Get some kerosene and put a few drops on and start rubbing.
You will see it all come together. :cool:

Doing this has being around for years. It's the way I do mine here in my shop. Hope this will help you out on the next one. :thumbup:
 
For handsanding I used light oil.
If you handsand up to gritt 220 and then jump straight to gritt 800 and go over it lightly, you'll get a nice matt and sastin finish. Almost no reflection.
 
AcridSaint said:
Nathan, how long are you tumbling? I've seen some experimenting done with it but it seems to take an awfully long time to get results.

I used windex for a while but found that I like simple green the best for lube.
.
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I use different media. There is a light ceramic media I use that puts a great finish on most things in a couple hours, but it doesn't do much to D2 etc. There is a heavy sharp aluminum oxide media that puts a dark ugly gritty finish on most things (it is designed for heavy deburring) that puts a lovely satin frost on D2. I normally use it for an hour or less for most things, but on D2 I let it go 24. Obviously it will round out sharp edges some too. I also use a loaded walnut shell that puts a near mirror finish on things. It is used dry and can run for a days.

I use Oakflo DSS 700 semi synthetic water soluble cutting fluid, simply because that's what I have on hand. It foams up more than I would like, but does a good job of keeping the media clean and sharp.

Depending on the machine you're using, you might get different results. This is a relatively heavy, 240 volt 3 phase tumbler. Vibrates the $h1t out of things. I expect the media may act different at different vibration amplitude and frequency, leaving a different kind of finish.
 
Well I'll give my sanding series since everyone else is :p

36x hogging, 60x to establish grinds, 120x jflex for cleaning and to cut plunges in, 180x apex, 400x cork belt with green rouge then I start hand sanding at 600x.
 
I talked to Trace Rinaldi about Satin Finishes abd I use his method. SOme guys may frown but a good 120 grit finish with a scotchbright belt works for me. Fast and clean. :thumbup:

I dont do many finishes like this but when I do thats what I do.
 
Brian - I'm assuming you mean 120 grit by hand? If so, then I can definitely see how it would work. Hand sanded 120 grit finish actually can look kind of cool.

Nathan - Thanks for the answer, I think the key is the heavy duty machine you're using.

For what it's worth, I was talking about simple green as lube for sanding. As far as machining goes, I usually do it dry, but sometimes use cool-tool simply because it's what I know.

blgoode said:
I talked to Trace Rinaldi about Satin Finishes abd I use his method. SOme guys may frown but a good 120 grit finish with a scotchbright belt works for me. Fast and clean. :thumbup:

I dont do many finishes like this but when I do thats what I do.
Click to expand...
 
I come off the grinder at 400. I then use 400 grit tool and die makers stones to get rid of the scatches then step up to a 600 grit stone. From there I step to sand paper. Normally no more that an hour to work one of my folders. This method keeps everything very flat. The stones are cheaper than sandpaper and last a lot longer.
 
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