I need about Buffing.....

S

sharpsteel

Joined
Mar 4, 1999
Messages
83
Okay, the blade is done. It's back from being heat-treated and it's time to bring this puppy home. I don't know much about the sequence of steps to finish it off. Let's pretend that I've taken it to a 600 grit hand sanded finish. Now what? I have access to a jeweler's buffer and a bunch of different compounds and the various buffing wheels that go with them. Do I REALLY need to wear armor while I'm buffing? What order do I attack this blade in to bring it up to a final mirror finish? I realize that many of you don't think a mirror finish is very durable and I'd tend to agree that it's needless for my own day to day knife. It does look nice though. So for the purpose of this question I'd like to understand how to do a mirror finish even if I only do it once. Thanks in advance.



[This message has been edited by sharpsteel (edited 06 April 1999).]
 
It's going to be hard to get a real mirror finish stopping at 600 grit.

You need to go to at least an 800, then a worn 800, before buffing.

I prefer to use the 3M Trizact belts for the last three finishes, with a 30, 16 and 6 grit. The 6 is about 1000 to 1200 grit.

Then buff on a medium stiff stitched cotton wheel with the dark green soft chrome rouge.

Some folks use a courser rouge before the green rouge, but I prefer to remove the metal with the finer belts and use the single rouge.

It's also important to "cross buff". Change the axis of your buffing so you're not digging the same grind lines deeper. Sort of like grading across the furrows to smooth up a field.


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Ben R. Ogletree, Jr.
 
You need to sand the blade some more to get a mirror finish. I use a 2 X 1/2 X 1/2 inch piece of scrap micarta as a sanding block. From a 600 grit finish I would go to 800, then 1000, 1500, 2000 grit sand paper. Alternate your sanding direction by 90 degees when moving up to the next higher grit size of sand paper.

I like to use the green chrome buffing compounds when buffing blades.


Buffers are dangerious. Loose or soft buffing wheels are the most dangerious because they will grab your blade and throw it back at you. I like using hard buffs because they do not grab the blade as much as the softer buffs.

When buffing only buff half of the width of the blade at a time. This will help to keep the blade from being pulled out of your hand. What causes the blade to be pulled out of your hand is when you let the top the work roll into the buffing wheel. Be carful and practice buffing on something else like a bar of unfinished steel. Good luck--Ray--
 
Ray is right, buffers are very dangerous. Make sure and do one half of the blade at a time as Ray said. Also make sure and keep the blade below the center line of the buff, that way if it should grab the blade out of your hand it will throw it away from you instead of right at you. Either way is not good, but if I have a choice between damaging a blade or part of my body, the blade is a much better choice. I seem to have more problems with buffers grabbing when buffing handles on hidden tang knives with handles of Crown Stag and the like. The buffs like to grab the irregular shapes and will snatch the knife right out of your hands, usually taking parts of your fingers with it and it does SMART some. Just be careful and take your time.
Be safe and good luck.
Mike C

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mconner@luminatorusa.com
Killing the dog wont cure the bite.



[This message has been edited by Drop point (edited 07 April 1999).]
 

Just ask Gil Hibben, he was buffing one of his knives(a ten inch blade fighter), buffer caught it, spun it around, and buried the knife to the guard in his thigh
frown.gif


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KSwinamer
 
Thank you all very much .Whewwwwwww - buffing sounds a lot more dangerous than I thought. Since I frequently find myself working on my projects at night I guess it'd be be better to save the buffing for the weekends when I'm FRESH and the light is better, huh?

I also was GIVEN the jeweler's buffer (cute lights and an air filter system built right in). When I expressed an interest buying it - I was told to take it for FREE and use it well!!!! Included a buncha buffs and compounds. Unfortunately the buffs were thrown together in a bag and have probably contaminated each but for FREE I wasn't complaining. The compounds thankfully were in plastic bags.

I also dug through my magazine collection last night and found a Knives Illustrated with an article on finishing ( 10 years old ) with some explicit info about differences between buff materials (cotton/sisal) and the differences between various compounds. So I think I'm on the air for now. I apprecaite the speedy and diplomatic responses.

 
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