mirror finish

[jdm61]

I am making a couple of knives that are of a type that will look more "correct" with a mirror finish instead of my usual 400-600 grit hand rubbed finish. How do you go about getting a mirror polish on high carbon steels like W2 and 1084? I have a buffer that I have yet to use, but I would like to get a finish without the little vertical buffer marks, no matter how fine and without rounding off the plunge cuts, etc. I know that Ed Fowler buffs blades lengthwise as a last pass, but I worry about the plunge cuts doing that. I would also like the process to not take a month and thousands of dollars worth of esoteric materials like polishing a katana in the traditional fashion...lol. Any suggestions? Before you say it, I can't search because my premium membership just expired.

 

[richard j]

do you mean a finish like on this knife joe? http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=582180

 

[jdm61]

do you mean a finish like on this knife joe? http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=582180

Something like that What i want to avoid are the tiny vertical scratches that tell you right away this was done on a buffer. The problem that I have had in the past is that things like polishing paper won't remove even the finest scratch pattern on hardened steel like they will on stuff like 416ss.....at least not in a reasonable amount of time...lol. I can get pretty darned close to a mirror finish on something like a 416 guard or ferrule with stuff as simple as a little felt wheel on my Dremel using gray compound.

 

[richard j]

send me an email rje196021@gmail.com

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

T
I don't mirror polish knives often, but the best advise I can offer is to make absolutely sure the scratches from the last grit are completely gone before moving on to the next grit. If not, they will show up in the mirror polish. If you use the grinder to go beyond 400 grit, it will put little gouges in the steel, and they will make the vertical lines. After 400 on the grinder, switch to hand sanding, and go back to 220 grit. Spend about half your polishing time at 220, a quarter at 400 grit, and the rest at the upper grits. A couple well spent hours should be enough to finish out a normal size blade.I find wet sanding does much better than dry sanding.
Stacy

 

[Karl B. Andersen]

Joe, just don't expect the "buffing" to give you the shine.
Like Stacy said, almost all of your time is spent sanding - NOT buffing.
Buffing just makes your current condition shiny.
If you have scratches, you'll just end up with shiny scratches.
Remove ALL previous scratches with the next paper grit before moving on.
Stop at no less than 1500 with a PERFECT scratchless surface.
You'll notice a better shine if you have 2000 or 3000 grit.
Then you'll end up spending about 20 seconds on the buffer.
Don't expect the buffer to remove scratches - that's what your finer grits are for.
If you have your surface properly prepared, you'll spend so little time buffing that you won't need to fear compromising any of your sharply defined areas like the edge of your plunge lines.

 

[jdm61]

Joe, just don't expect the "buffing" to give you the shine.
Like Stacy said, almost all of your time is spent sanding - NOT buffing.
Buffing just makes your current condition shiny.
If you have scratches, you'll just end up with shiny scratches.
Remove ALL previous scratches with the next paper grit before moving on.
Stop at no less than 1500 with a PERFECT scratchless surface.
You'll notice a better shine if you have 2000 or 3000 grit.
Then you'll end up spending about 20 seconds on the buffer.
Don't expect the buffer to remove scratches - that's what your finer grits are for.
If you have your surface properly prepared, you'll spend so little time buffing that you won't need to fear compromising any of your sharply defined areas like the edge of your plunge lines.

The good news is that I now have Norton Black Ice paper up to 1000 grit and that stuff just seems to cut a lot more aggressively and yet smoother even than the Klingspor stuff. What I REALLY need to find is those round sheets of super fine grit paper that John Perry uses. Thats some good stuff!!!

 

[stephanfowler]

I find that wet sanding at 2k Grit (I use Windex to wet sand) and keeping the paper FRESH will yeild a very nearly mirror finish.

then to finish off I spray the blade down with Ballistol and dust it with Pumice, rub that out HARD with a high quality paper towel (I use Viva) or cotton balls

with a little effort you can get a nearly mirror finish but your fingers WILL be sore.

 

[Mike Krall]

In the tool & die maker and mould maker world, the finish would be brought up to 1000 grit with stones and then the roll of toilet paper and diamond compound would come out for polishing the roughed-in surface. I can't rationalize having a bunch of different grits of diamond paste, but that is the tool for the job.

Random- direction scratches look to have a higher shine than directional scratches for the same grit. A 320 or 400 (not P grade) rubbed out with maroon or lt. gray 3M pad, respectively, will look a whole lot "finer" than those grits run directionally. I've wondered if a person could use a Fein MultiMaster, or equivalent oscillating tool, with AlOx polishing compounds, to step up through grits after 1000.

Mike