Mirror polishing an Native...

B

Buck268

Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
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Well, I'm wondering what the best way to go about mirror polishing a S30V Native would be. Right now I'm working on getting the machining marks out of the spine, and thats taking forever with 220 grit wetdry paper! And those are shallow compared to the grind lines on the flats and hollow grinds! Not to mention its hard to get good coverage of small curved surfaces.

Has anybody had any success polishing a Native's blade before? Or even something mildly similar? I'm thinking, for hand-done, I'll need some type of sanding pad and the necessary sandpaper, then eventually a dremel type deal with a polishing wheel and polish. Any other recommended equipment? Budget is *the* concern, I'm just doing this to take up some free (trouble-causing) time and have a handsome blade.
 
Make sanding blocks from popsicle sticks, wood lathe, etc. If the blade is hollow ground, contour the blocks to the concave blade. Sanding with your fingers will take forever. A dremel will not polish a blade sucessfully. Sand it to 2000 grit. Then use a metal polish on a rag.
Bill
 
hmm, never thought about making hard blocks that fit the contour, might take some time to rig up but sounds like it would save a lot of hassle!
 
You need to be using a backed surface even for the flats, because if you don't you'll end up with a wavy surface once it's mirror polished and have to take it back down, ask me how I know :barf: I had to do that with a S90v blade

:edit to add: also I dont know if this applies to a S30v blade but the blade I was working on had an annoying tendancy to get what I think was carbide tearout, I'd buff it too hard (not nearly as hard as I've buffed other steels) and I'd get what looked like an 80 grit scratch all the way down the blade. I had to go back through all the grits about 6 times
 
I haven't noticed any carbide tear-out sanding down the spine, but I've only made it to 400 grit so far. Gotta go pick up some finer paper now.
 
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