mirror polish

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
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I have been doing a "semi-mirror" hand sanded polish on some of my blades by going up to 2000 grit wet. I would like to be able to do a scratch free mirror polish for some blades, particularly my Moran inspired stuff. Does anyone do what I would call a "spit shine" type finish by wet sanding with ridiculously fine jeweler's paper like 8000 grit or finer? When I wet sand my 416 fittings to 2000, I pretty much get what I am looking for, but since the pieces are quite small, I suspect that this hides a multitude of sins that would be visible on a larger flat surface. At 2000 wet, blade still is still kind of "hazy" with a very fine scratch pattern. What I want is for that to not be visible like on a finely polished stainless steel watch case. I also don't even want the very fine perpendicular "scratch" pattern that you see on many buffed knives. Any suggestions?
 
Use the 3M polishing papers. A package has grits from 400 to 8000. It will bring up a heck of a shine. Follow up with Flits or Simichrome.A darker mirror polish will be done with a finish of red oxide (powdered rouge) and clove oil (choji).Mix them to a medium slurry,and strain through a couple layers of paper towels. use the strained mixture to polish the blade. The blade will get a beautiful dark luster (and your fingers will get a nice red color). This is the same as the final polish on the ji in shiagi togi.
Stacy
 
I've never mirror polished a knife, but I've seen dies made of things like D2 at work that were polished using a buffing wheel (looks like a bench grinder, but instead of the stone there was a cloth wheel) and rouge. That seemed to give a mirror finish rather quick.

The quality is most likely lacking but you can get a 1/3hp buffer from harbor freight for about $40.
 
TheLaxPlayer said:
I've never mirror polished a knife, but I've seen dies made of things like D2 at work that were polished using a buffing wheel (looks like a bench grinder, but instead of the stone there was a cloth wheel) and rouge. That seemed to give a mirror finish rather quick.

The quality is most likely lacking but you can get a 1/3hp buffer from harbor freight for about $40.
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I have a 1750 RPM 3/4 HP Baldor that I have never used out of fear...lol.
 
bladsmth said:
Use the 3M polishing papers. A package has grits from 400 to 8000. It will bring up a heck of a shine. Follow up with Flits or Simichrome.A darker mirror polish will be done with a finish of red oxide (powdered rouge) and clove oil (choji).Mix them to a medium slurry,and strain through a couple layers of paper towels. use the strained mixture to polish the blade. The blade will get a beautiful dark luster (and your fingers will get a nice red color). This is the same as the final polish on the ji in shiagi togi.
Stacy
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Thanks, Stacy. I know that you can get that 3M type paper up to 12,000 grit. For "final" polish, I was thinking about using Simichrome and then a jeweler's rouge cloth. Back in the old days when I was in miltary school and the Army Reserves, we used to "restore" our brass belt buckles by first using shirt cardboard and Brasso or Noxon to rub out the scratches. We then used a rag and Brasso/Noxon to shine it up and a 2 sided Cadie rouge cloth, which had red rouge on one side and clean, soft polishing cloth on the other to get out the fine scratches/swirlmarks that the polish would leave. Unfortunately, hardened W2 is much tougher than brass, but I figure I can still use some of my old knowlege at some stage.:D
 
jdm61 said:
Hmmm.........interesting, but I am not sure who that would work on a 20 inch total length Musso style bowie...;)
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That might depend entirely on the size of the tumbler. ;);)

Did not know that was the size you were thinking off, U see, I am a folder guy, so I think small.:)

Jim
 
Joe, 'Old Bill' used buffing wheels and got-r-done pretty quick. Give yours a try, if you want that look.

I have seen some old school knives, inspired by Moran, that had a nice ripply, wavy, semi flat surface on the sides of the blades. But boy did they shine ;)
 
Don Hanson III said:
Joe, 'Old Bill' used buffing wheels and got-r-done pretty quick. Give yours a try, if you want that look.

I have seen some old school knives, inspired by Moran, that had a nice ripply, wavy, semi flat surface on the sides of the blades. But boy did they shine ;)
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The Moran I used to own and my two Hendricksons and one Setnz all have a buffed finish and you can see those little faint scratches running from spine to edge. This "spit shine" is not a finish that I want to do very time becuase I would never finish enoug knives. This would just be for special projects.
 
All of my polish work is done by hand. I don't use any water or other solution.
Dry sanded with 220, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 2000, 3000, 5000, 8000.
It's a lot of :jerkit:,
but the look is definitely different than you can get with a buffer.
 
I agree with Bill Tuch. The look is very different from a buffer. On the rare occasions
that I do a mirror type polish I use 220,400,600,1000,1500,2000,2500, all 3M. Then I
switch to 3M polishing paper, 4000,6000,8,000, then finally simichrome, which give a deep shine. I plan on ordering some 1/4 micron 3M micro-abrasive from Tools for Working Wood. This should produce a true mirror, but even the 8,000 followed by Simichrome
comes pretty close. This is not something that I would do to often, it's a lot of trouble.
It does not actually take that long to go from 2500 grit paper to the 4000,6,000,8,000
but you have to be very careful of grit contamination at these fine levels.
 
If you've got a Baldor (which is one of the best buffers on the market) I suggest doing some research on buffing compounds and wheels as this can really get a very nice mirror finish as long as you know what compounds and wheels to use. The mirror finish in my opinion will be better than you can get by hand sanding and will probably not take as long to achieve. I usually hand sand to around 1000 grit then use a black magic compound, then green compound, then green chrome, then white or pink to get a mirror finish. Most of the time if I have hand sanded well this will get you a very nice mirror finish.
 
Essentially what I am doing now is using wet 2000, somethimes stuff that has been "dulled" That probably gives you the general effect of say 3000, but I want a more consistent finish. 2000 is still "coarse" enough that you have to sand in very straight lines which I seem to have trouble with.....lol.
 
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I have cerium oxide......also tin oxide, Linde A,Linde B, Chrome oxide,Yellow rouge, carrot rouge, and diamond to 1/4 micron.

In my experience, cerium oxide does not polish metal well....but is superior on glass.

For getting a deep and brilliant color on carbon steel, I have found nothing better than red oxide. Other abrasives will get a mirror polish, but the look is different.

In doing the final polish on a Japanese sword, the color and distinction between the hamon and the ji can vary. Sometimes too harsh, sometimes too indistinct. The choice of the final polishing compound (either red oxide ,or magnetite, mixed with oil) will allow for a proper display of the hamon while bringing out the jihada .

In the days before Fabuluster, jewelers were easily recognized by their red fingertips. Today they are recognized by their black fingertips......such is progress.
Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
I have cerium oxide......also tin oxide, Linde A,Linde B, Chrome oxide,Yellow rouge, carrot rouge, and diamond to 1/4 micron.

In my experience, cerium oxide does not polish metal well....but is superior on glass.

For getting a deep and brilliant color on carbon steel, I have found nothing better than red oxide. Other abrasives will get a mirror polish, but the look is different.

In doing the final polish on a Japanese sword, the color and distinction between the hamon and the ji can vary. Sometimes too harsh, sometimes too indistinct. The choice of the final polishing compound (either red oxide ,or magnetite, mixed with oil) will allow for a proper display of the hamon while bringing out the jihada .

In the days before Fabuluster, jewelers were easily recognized by their red fingertips. Today they are recognized by their black fingertips......such is progress.
Stacy
Click to expand...

Sometimes with glass I'll start with cerium and finish with rouge. Cerium seems to cut faster so it is a good choice to start with. Some of the premium stuff has very fine particles though and is similar. When I get to that point I may try the same approach and see if I can tell the difference. Thanks for the input.
 
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