How do you recondition a blade to a mirror finish.

F

Full Tang Clan

Joined
Jul 22, 2000
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I have a Spanish bayonet with a 16 inch blade that I wish to recondition by taking off some rust and surface scratches.

I'd like to get it to a near mirror finish if possible.

1. What are the sanding steps: type of sandpaper/grits/steel wool needed).

2. Finishing steps. Polishes.

3. What can I use to seal it to prevent future oxidation. It's got a high-carbon content so it is quite prone to rust.

Thanks in advance.


P.S. I don't have a dremel tool or the like so I'll probably have to do it by hand.
 
I'm the kind of guy who needs to get a life since I spend many evening hand sanding my knives to mirrored or near mirrored finishes. This is what I do and I know I am not an expert so I am sure you will get other recommendations.

First of all I get my dry/wet sand paper from Texas Knife Makers Supply. I get 320-2000 grits and I start with a lower grit to remove rust or bead blast or whatever and I incrementally increase my grit size always sanding with the grain (tang to point) in nice even strokes and I take my time.

As I get to the higher grits I may add an abrasive like Flitz or metal glo and rub that in. I may finish with 4-0000 (pronounced 4 ot)steel wool with Fltiz or WD40. I then apply a metal polish and reward myself for my hard work with plenty of buffing.

Want to prevent rust on that newly mirrored finsh. I have a 2 word cure for you:
Tuf-Cloth. I have high carbon tool steel blades that I have soaked in water falls and since they were coated with Tuf-Cloth they don't have a speck of rust on them.

Good luck. I just finish putting mirror finishes on my Socom, an older Allen Blade knife and Lynn Griffith Spec Ops bowie.

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~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska

[This message has been edited by Kodiak PA (edited 08-30-2000).]
 
It helps sometimes to sand AGAINST the grain of the steel with the coarser grit sandpapers and WITH it as you work up to 1000 and 2000 grit paper too.
The blade would have to be in pretty rough shape to have to start with 320. I usually start with 600 grit and go up from there.

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I cut it, and I cut it, and it's STILL too short!


 
Greg, you finally mirrored yer SOCOM! Onya!
smile.gif
 
Ken is right, I rarely use 320 to start with unless the blade is really yucky. Also if you sand against the grain you must follow up and sand with the grain and increase your grit size.

Ferrett: Yeah, looks good, too! Still can't get that mini-Socom to look like the full size one, though I haven't messed with that for a while....hey...a project for tonight.

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~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
 
Oops, my silly, I was thinking of the m-socom...still giving you grief, huh?
 
Bayonets frequently have thick rust deposits. When that's the case I start with coarse steel wool. This is not hard enough to do much scratching of the base metal, but it removes the softer rust and doesn't get clogged up like sand paper. Once I get a look at the real surface I decide how to procede. It there is significant pitting you may need a coarse grade of Wet-Or-Dry paper and maybe even a power tool. I've used some types of disk and flap sanders chucked into a electric drill in some cases.

Beyond these possible gross preliminary steps I go coarse to fine like the other guys. I get my abrasives at the local home improvement store or auto parts stores. I find the finest grits at the auto stores. A buffer does wonders for the final stage, but it can be risky to buff knives. When they get thrown by the wheel it's real scary.
 
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