How to Get the mirror polish?

cziv said:
Shoot - I know you bought one of those Criss Angel "Pro" Magic Kits. Thos have to be illusions. How can you get a blade to look like a mirror? You can't do it! Tell me how! :p
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Well, it is not magic. It is not an illusion...but the blade is not perfect either.

After all the time I spent with this thing...all the close inspections....all the viewings under magnification...I know every single imperfection...and know them well!

It turned out really, REALLY well by my standards. ZDP-189 is very hard from Spyderco and this was a nice challenge.

As for how I did it? It came with a decent finish from Spyderco, and a great edge. But I kept reprofiling the edge....I went thinner and tested the blade....it did well, so I went thinner...it did even better, so I went thinner...repeat that progression one or two more times.... Somewhere around 7 degrees I noticed the bevels were accounting for a very large portion of the blade, so I polished what remained.

The bevels were polished with the full suite of DMT stones from XC to XXF, then finished on chromuim oxide on leather, leather, then cotton cloth. The remainder of the faces were polished with Chromium oxide on leather, leather, and then cotton. To be fair, cutting MANY MANY tires started the polish job on the faces...rubber seems to have a polishing effect, but it is not very uniform...and introduces some scratches occasionally:D...so I cleaned the faces up as I said.

I could not even guess how many hours I have in this blade getting it to where it is now...but every step of the way was powered by elbow grease, a little blood*, a bit of sweat, but no tears.

* the blood was from when I wore holes through the tips of my thumb and index finger on the profile jobs. The first time was the worst.

singularity35 said:
Awesome polish Ken, but this 5 degree inclusive is what really pricked my ears up.
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Thanks. Yes, this one is way outside the bell curve of what some would try to use. I certainly would not claim that the edge would last for many tasks, but for slicing, and push cutting in softer media (like rubber, meat, and similar stuff) it does VERY well...you just can not expect to use a hard backstop for your cutting. Try a torsional cut and you would likely turn this into something resembling a saw blade!

This is a HIGHLY specialized blade, and I use it for a very narrow scope of duties.
 
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unit said:
Thanks. Yes, this one is way outside the bell curve of what some would try to use. I certainly would not claim that the edge would last for many tasks, but for slicing, and push cutting in softer media (like rubber, meat, and similar stuff) it does VERY well...you just can not expect to use a hard backstop for your cutting. Try a torsional cut and you would likely turn this into something resembling a saw blade!

This is a HIGHLY specialized blade, and I use it for a very narrow scope of duties.
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I realize that but it's just that this one is among the darkest among the dark siders and it strikes a chord in me. :D:thumbup:
 
singularity35 said:
I realize that but it's just that this one is among the darkest among the dark siders and it strikes a chord in me. :D:thumbup:
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Yeah me too! I would rock that baby only when I knew I'd get a chance to whip it out and freak people out. :cool: It's absolutely amazing - just unreal! :thumbup:
 
Thanks guys. It is a fun one to share with the few that can appreciate it.
 
knifenut1013 said:
unit, does the angle gauge work well?
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Weeeeellllll....

I actually made a video asking/addressing this very question.

My short answer is that for 10 bucks it is a good value, and does what most should expect it would do by looking at it....but I wonder how many people REALLY contemplate how difficult the use of this thing can be to master...and how often they will use the info it provides.

If you have a knife that is very thin behind the edge, it is basically worthless (unless you want to measure the bevel behind the edge). There MUST be a notch behind the angle measurement area, or you will bottom out on your edge...but if your edge (and associated bevel) is thinner than that notch...you get the point.

If you have a new blade that you are unfamiliar with, it will generally get you in the ball park...but only plus or minus a few degrees, since you have to answer the question, "is it closer to this notch or that notch?" and interpolate/guesstimate between the 2 notches....good, but is 2-3 degrees of precision good enough for the guy that would actually know what to do with the difference offered by 5 degrees? (so many people live and die with the 30/40 edge and micro...what are they going to do with this)

My point is that this inexpensive gadget is good, but it really is an intermediate step between the laser goniometer you really want, and what you can get from just looking at an edge (perhaps a 5-10 degree eyeball estimate?). It that intermediate step really needed?

The real discussion when these came out had a lot to do with how to use it. If you REALLY think about how you would use one, it ought to be clear that it is not easy. I think a lot of people got frustrated with that.

Holding a knife (with a vice or whatever), getting adequate lighting (and getting the light at the optimum angle), magnification (or really good eyes), not stabbing yourself in the eye (with or without the included tip guards), and guiding a steel notched device (this gauge) over your PRECIOUS edge without cutting yourself or contacting your edge....

Would I buy another one? Yeah, if Spyderco decided to offer them again...but I doubt that they will offer it again.
 
unit said:
The bevels were polished with the full suite of DMT stones from XC to XXF, then finished on chromuim oxide on leather, leather, then cotton cloth. The remainder of the faces were polished with Chromium oxide on leather, leather, and then cotton.
Click to expand...

This is my first post to the forum.
I'm curious about rottenstone as a polishing compound. I have used it in wood finishing - it's a super-fine powder (also known as tripoli). Does anyone have a thought or experience with it? (I have a bunch so I thought I would use it if I get a response something like, "rottenstone is awesome!" .
thanks
 
jakeparker221 said:
This is my first post to the forum.
I'm curious about rottenstone as a polishing compound. I have used it in wood finishing - it's a super-fine powder (also known as tripoli). Does anyone have a thought or experience with it? (I have a bunch so I thought I would use it if I get a response something like, "rottenstone is awesome!" .
thanks
Click to expand...

Based on what I've read about tripoli compound, it's mainly used for polishing softer metals (like brass, silver, gold). Seems to be popular among jewelers. I'm sure it could be used for polishing things like bolsters on knives, but wouldn't likely be as effective for the (much) harder knife steels, such as referenced in this thread. For knife steels, the favorites generally are either diamond, chromium oxide, aluminum oxide, or silicon carbide. All are considerably harder than the steel they're used for, which makes them very effective for sharpening/polishing knife blades & edges.
 
unit said:
Weeeeellllll....

I actually made a video asking/addressing this very question.

My short answer is that for 10 bucks it is a good value, and does what most should expect it would do by looking at it....but I wonder how many people REALLY contemplate how difficult the use of this thing can be to master...and how often they will use the info it provides.

If you have a knife that is very thin behind the edge, it is basically worthless (unless you want to measure the bevel behind the edge). There MUST be a notch behind the angle measurement area, or you will bottom out on your edge...but if your edge (and associated bevel) is thinner than that notch...you get the point.

If you have a new blade that you are unfamiliar with, it will generally get you in the ball park...but only plus or minus a few degrees, since you have to answer the question, "is it closer to this notch or that notch?" and interpolate/guesstimate between the 2 notches....good, but is 2-3 degrees of precision good enough for the guy that would actually know what to do with the difference offered by 5 degrees? (so many people live and die with the 30/40 edge and micro...what are they going to do with this)

My point is that this inexpensive gadget is good, but it really is an intermediate step between the laser goniometer you really want, and what you can get from just looking at an edge (perhaps a 5-10 degree eyeball estimate?). It that intermediate step really needed?

The real discussion when these came out had a lot to do with how to use it. If you REALLY think about how you would use one, it ought to be clear that it is not easy. I think a lot of people got frustrated with that.

Holding a knife (with a vice or whatever), getting adequate lighting (and getting the light at the optimum angle), magnification (or really good eyes), not stabbing yourself in the eye (with or without the included tip guards), and guiding a steel notched device (this gauge) over your PRECIOUS edge without cutting yourself or contacting your edge....

Would I buy another one? Yeah, if Spyderco decided to offer them again...but I doubt that they will offer it again.
Click to expand...


I think I'll just keep with......

"what angle is on that knife?" (answer) "a sharp one" :)
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Based on what I've read about tripoli compound, it's mainly used for polishing softer metals (like brass, silver, gold). Seems to be popular among jewelers. I'm sure it could be used for polishing things like bolsters on knives, but wouldn't likely be as effective for the (much) harder knife steels, such as referenced in this thread. For knife steels, the favorites generally are either diamond, chromium oxide, aluminum oxide, or silicon carbide. All are considerably harder than the steel they're used for, which makes them very effective for sharpening/polishing knife blades & edges.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I might just give it a try on a beater - just to see if it is at all effective. - jake
 
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