Just getting started, and a question...?

J

John Flatley

Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Messages
7
So as a complete novice and with only a few hours to spare per week, I very wisely decided, ten days before Christmas, that I would make a knife for my dad, two brothers and brother in law. Needless to say, they all received gifts that I purchased last minute. That said, I have found a passion for this craft and I mean to finish and gift said knives as I finish them. Now comes the question. I had completed my dad's knife and epoxied the handle (purple heart) when I so intelligently used a razor to begin cutting the tape from the blade. Doh! The question is this. Is there a way to refinish the ricasso after affixing scales? I had the blade almost mirror before this happened. Pics attached if I can figure out how
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I’m not seeing any pics but the easiest way would be to take off the old scales, fix mirror polish and put on new scales. The best thing to do is use the ever living hell outta this knife. It will tell you a lot about the heat treat, handle design and why not to mirror polish a blade!
 
Short answer is YES...however the time it takes to hand sand out the scratch is not worth the effort. Much easier to remove scales and replace them. Since it's a gift for your Father just buff it up and give it to him. If it's a user he is gonna scratch it up anyway....These errors happen early on and you can explain it as a learning curve Boo-Boo and he is the Lucky Recipient of your first Prototype!!
 
Sorry, I wasn't sure how to post pics so I added a link to them in the next comment. I really appreciate all of the responses. I think I'm going to give it a final buff and hand it to him as is. I'll tell him it gives the blade some character! Lol
 
That makes sense. It is probably marred after the first use. So, I'm not going to do mirror finish on any more blades for now, which is actually a relief! That was a LOT of hand sanding. What is the rule of thumb as far as how fine to take your sanding for a finished knife? 600 grit? 1000 grit?
 
I'd say, remove scales, run it over a 600 grit belt until those scratches you want out are gone. The difference between a smith and a master is the imperfections they ALLOW to leave the shop. Also mirror polishing is addictive, spent tons of hours sanding and polishing my first kitchen knife. Someone wiped it down with a paper towel... fine scratches everywhere ..... Mirror polish = display case.
 
I agree a clean 400 grit hand sanded finish looks great on a user kitchen knife. I think going to 600 or 800 grit might help with delaying rusting as the scratches are finer so the surface area holding moisture is lower? Not a big deal if the person is careful with cleaning and drying after use tho.
 
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