Mirror polishing my S110V.

Q

qqfob

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Sep 14, 2008
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Wow this is some hard work! just as hard as it is to sharpen, it's even harder to sand down! Started on it last night with regular 400 grit and was able to get the coating off, but the steel wasn't completely smooth. I put the whiz wheel on it at work today and was able to get all the machining marks off the blade.

the knife was preowned and RichardJ had done his paper wheel on it. it looks okay right now with more or less a satin finish, but the convex edge really makes it look sweet.

since i started on it last night i've ordered some assorted carbide sandpaper and green compound. once those come in, I will resume moving up the grits.
 
qqfob said:
Wow this is some hard work! just as hard as it is to sharpen, it's even harder to sand down! Started on it last night with regular 400 grit and was able to get the coating off, but the steel wasn't completely smooth. I put the whiz wheel on it at work today and was able to get all the machining marks off the blade.

the knife was preowned and RichardJ had done his paper wheel on it. it looks okay right now with more or less a satin finish, but the convex edge really makes it look sweet.

since i started on it last night i've ordered some assorted carbide sandpaper and green compound. once those come in, I will resume moving up the grits.
Click to expand...

that sounds sweet. please post some pics when you get the chance, i want to see how this turns out :D
 
Yes. Pics now please! I've been thinking about doing this to one of mine, and a satin finish would be fine with me.
 
not exactly mirror'd yet, but you get the idea!

also put on a black pocket clip to match the black screws. i hope i hope i hope this comes out good...

IMG_6256.jpg
 
Well, I couldn't wait. Last night, I took my user apart and sitting on the couch I started in on it (everyone keeps sandpaper in their end tables, don't they? :confused:). Now it's done!

I started with 3M wet/dry in 320 grit and used that to knock down the stonewash. It only took about two hours. Then on to 400, 5000, 7500 and 10000 to smooth the steel out, and finished with some flitz. The blade finish looks like my satin ENER-G. The etchings are still there! All of this was done by hand in about 6 hours, taking my time.

I think you could easily mirror polish it from here with a power buffing wheel and some red jeweler's rouge. I could clean it up a little more, but I'm very happy with what it looks like now.

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Now where's that S60V Blur? :D
 
ahh you're gonna beat me to it! shouldve finished before i posted it up... what type of sand paper did you use?

pics pleaseee
 
I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow. I've done everything without power tools. It could have turned out better had I put the buffer to it, but I'm happy with the satin finish. I may mess with some semichrome or Mother's tomorrow, but I don't want to lose the blade etchings. They are a lot lighter now, but you can still clearly read them!

Go for the mirror finish!

One thing, they really like to keep fingerprints and smudges...

Paper? 3M Wettodry, 213Q, A weight. It took a few sheets to get it done.
 
I don't think it's ever going to mirror up like aebl, cpm154cm, , much less the really fine grain steels. Like D2 with it's "orange peel" finish it will never get past a smoky, satiny mirrored finish without some real time, and going up just a bit at a time, not missing any.

Even then I wonder. This one is at a carbide percentage of near 23%, but a large amount of them are the largest, hardest kind.

You will likely need gemological polishing equipment ( exaggeration, but not much). More like areospace industry type stuff. :)

Good luck! Joe
 
I know that's some work; it looks like you've got a good satin finish now.
 
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It's 3M's automotive paper. Properly used, it can rough up a lacquer coat for sanding between coats (dry) or finish off a clear coat ready for buffing (wet).

It can also be found in wholesale beautician's supply stores. I've found a supply of foam sammiched fingernail files. 5000 and 7500 on one side and 10000 on the other. About 1"X8". They're great for polishing a convexed edge.

For the custom auto paints and paint jobs, paper goes finer than that. But I haven't found a use for 15000 paper on a knife...yet!
 
I just got my pack of carbide sandpaper and finished up 180grit. it looks very uniform now unlike in the pictures. took me about 2 hours today... will continue with the next step tomorrow. this is no joke!

SPX, you didn't do it to a S110V did you? all i had was automotive sandpaper at first and they just don't work. at all. and i used to work at a bodyshop, the finest grit i've ever used there was 2500 right before the buffing. i seriously never heard of 15000 grit.
 
I've done a 110V and started on a 30V. I'm using aluminum oxide paper. The 5000, 7500 and 10000 can be found on padded fingernail files, found at beauty supply stores.

Mind you I'm not going for the bright mirror finish. The 110V I finished looks just a little darker than the satin finish of the ENER-G, but still has the shine.

The shop that put the 15 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer on my 72 Corvette used 15000 for the final sand between hand buffing. Since I knew the guys that were doing the work, I got to hang around a lot and watch. The really fine stuff felt smoother than regular notebook paper to me, but that's what they used. This place does very high-end high-dollar custom paint jobs.
 
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