How to acheive a High Polish/Mirror Polish finish

K

KentDog

Joined
Jan 26, 2000
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I know this has already been asked many, many times before, so please bare with me. I would like to know how to get a HP or mirror polish finish on a knife by hand. Please give detailed descriptions, including what tools are needed, what grit to start and end with, methods, etc. Any information is appreciated.. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to this. Happy holidays to you all!

-Kent
 
Would I be able to get a nice mirror polished finish by hand? Or can you give me steps up till the point where I should use a buffer?
 
Actually I think you can, because I have.

It takes about 10 times as long, but it can be done.

You have to start with a fairly coarse paper, but that depends on the knife in question and what kind of finish is currently on it.

When I used to do it this way, it was because I wasn't very proficient at grinding and I wanted sharp grind lines. I was afraid of washing them out by going to far with my machines.

So, I would start with 150 grit, some Cool Tool II or WD-40 as a cutting agent, and a sanding block made from either Dymondwood or hardwood.

For the initial paper, 150, 220, 320, 400 you can use just a hard surface sanding block (dymondwood works really well for this). However, at 600 and on, I used a piece of Dymondwood with a 9/10 oz. leather "face" super-glued on (I still use it for hand-rubbed satin finishes).

Anyway, you have to go to an autoparts store or a home center (or any abrasive supplier) so you can buy some 600, 1200, and 2000 grit wed/dry paper.

Let me add in, using your finger with paper over it won't work. You really need to make some sanding blocks.

Once you get to 2000, you need to use a polishing paste. You can get this at some of the knifemaking supply houses or some tool stores. Apply the paste to a piece of leather and work it over the blade.

This will give you a mirror finish, and a very clean one at that. But I can't really say I recommend it. It is a lot of work, and IMHO, the finish you have at the 1200 grit point is more attractive than a mirror polish anyway. Different strokes...

Just my $0.02
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Nick
 
You can use water on the sand paper, if it is wet/dry paper. Water works well until the final sanding stages. I use water up until the 1200 grit stage and then switch to cool tool, or oil. Just make sure you get out all of the scratches from the previous grit, and change directions each tome you change grit.

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A Knife is no more than an Iron Tooth
 
Thanks for your replies, guys. George, I have all the time in the world
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. I'm not planning to sell the knives I make these finishes on; I'm only doing them for myself
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. I've heard it takes a heck of a long time and a heck of a lot of patience, but I think I can do it. Nick, I have been told to start on around 320 grit; 150 seems a bit coarse.

I have a rubber sanding block, will that work? To recap, I need to get the following grits of wet/dry sandpaper (starting with 320, unless you think 150 and 220 are needed?): 320, 400, 600, 1200. I will take your advice (Nick) and stop at 1200 - Isn't that where Microtech stops with their Brend finishes? I like the look on their blades
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. Do you think I will need to get a lot of sandpaper? How many sheets would be recommended? I also need to get some kind of polishing paste. Any certain brands or kinds recommended? And then I need a couple of pieces of leather... Is that it?

Nick and striper, thanks a lot for your comments.. they were very helpful! I would still like to hear how everyone else does their HP or satin finishing.. so keep them coming! Thanks, again guys!

-Kent
 
Yeah, 150 is really coarse, but like I mentioned, it really depends on the current finish of the blade in question.

I put a satin finish on the same way, but I figured out how to grind, so I usually go from an 800 (or really worn 400) grit belt, to 400, 600, 1200.

Using Cool Tool II, Baby Oil, or WD-40 will really cut down on your sanding time.

For the kind of sanding blocks I use, I cut the sandpaper into narrow strips the width of the sheet. So we're talking about a 3/8-5/8" wide by 9" strip.

I buy sandpaper in reams of 100, so I never really thought about it, but I'm sure one sheet of each will do a couple knives. And I'm not stingy with the paper, as soon as it doesn't cut well, I move it to fresh grit.

Another very nice finish, if you do have any sort of access to a buffer, is to put a mirror finish on and then rub it out with oil and super-fine scotch-brite.

The biggest thing is getting all of your sanding strokes running straight and clean.

If you stop at 1200 there's not really any need for paste, unless you're using it on handle hardware.

If you know the radius of the grind in your knife, I can make you a sanding block like I use and send it to you. It takes about 5 minutes. But to keep the grind lines crisp, you need it to be the same radius at the wheel that the blade was ground on. Unless it's flat ground, then there's no need.
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Let me know if you're interested.

More ramblings
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Nick
 
It's fairly simple, but not worth the effort on a blade.
Get the regular grits sandingpaper, all of them, the higher grit the better, and start rubbing one after another, each different grit in a different direction so you can see if the next grit removed all the scratches from the last one. When you get to 1200, Buy a set of Micromesh sheeths, they go from 1500 to 20000. ( no, there's no 0 too much).
Continue, and by the time you get to 18000, you'll say "now this is a mirrorfinish" and wonder why they put the 20000 sheeth in the package.

Personally, I only use this to polish pins so I don't need to buff on a wooden handle, because polishpaste is hard to remove from an open structure like wood.


greetz, bart.

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