How far do you finish working grade knife blades?

[rtj1981]

I have generally taken them to at least 600 grit or all the way up to 1200. I was wondering what the minimum grit everybody would consider using on carbon steel knives that they know will see use afield. I've noticed that the lower the grit the faster a knife will rust, especially if it has any water on it. On the other hand taking a knife blade all the way to 800 or 1200 grit takes a considerable amount of time and as soon as it's used the finish is essentially ruined.

 

[Will Leavitt]

I usually go 600x on EDC's but sometimes as high as 1500x on same knife depending on what I feel like. A nice 1200 shouldn't take too much longer than a nice 600x.

 

[Longstrider]

Which carbon steel sare you using rtj ? I've found that a blade of 01 rusts less readily if it's polished well. I think the micro-grooves of a coarser finish allow the water to cling to the blade better. Shiny blades are a sod to keep clean of marring scratches, but they wipe completely dry easier.

 

[bikermikearchery]

800 on the machine, 2000 hand sand, then buff with jewelers rough.

 

[silver_pilate]

I finish all my O1 to at least 600 grit. I've noticed that below that it tends to rust too fast. Most of my knives receive 800 grit hand rubbed finishes. I grind to 220 or 400 and then start at 220 and move up by hand. If you can do a lot of your hand sanding pre-heat treat to remove grinding marks, it goes a lot faster after hardening. I sand up to 400 grit prior to heat treat getting all the grinding marks off. Then I start back at 220 and work up after heat treating. If you get too much decarb, you can still grind, but grind at a high grit with a used belt to avoid getting those deep scratches that low grit or new belts can give you.

--nathan

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

For working blades I leave a working finish.
If it is to be used daily in a professional kitchen,or on a boat, or in the field.... a matte finish is all it needs.

I take it to 400 and then buff with a fine Scotch Brite belt. I buff the final 1/4" of edge to a mirror polish with a felt belt and rouge (green or white). Then I do the final sharpening, with a finishing touch across a leather belt,charger with yellow rouge, for stropping.

I occasionally make a knife with a polished blade, but 90% of mine get a matte finish.
Stacy

 

[george tichbourne]

I go all the way to mirror finish because the smoother the blade surface is the less likely it is to tarnish and it is easier to clean.

I make no distinction between working knives or dress knives when it comes to finish unless the customer requests bead blasting.

George

 

[rtj1981]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I generally use O1 for knives made from carbon steel. One thing I found that makes hand sanding much easier is to use a disc sander, I will usually take my knives all the way to 400 or 600 grit on my disk before I start by hand. Not only does it do a better job of getting the scratches out than my KMG but it does a better job of getting the blade nice and flat. Before I started using a disc It seemed there were always little divots left from my belt sander that I hand to sand and sand by hand until I got them out. I guess taking the time to go from 600 grit to 1200+ doesn't add that much time but it will make the knife more expensive due to the extra labor involved. If some one is buying a knife with the intention of using it in the field they might not necessarily want to pay the extra cost incurred from having a "nicer" finish. That's where my thought process was coming from in this post.