My first knives but have some buffing questions.

[Bradleyrj]

I have always made these for friends as gifts, or just because but there is a gun store here that wants to try and sell them for me so here's a few pics of the ones I have made / have for sale.
My personal knife.

Oyster Shucker

I need to work on the handle polishing. I am using a corded drill and buff wheel but I see its not doing the job. I need a real buffer or turn my bench grinder into a buffer. I want the handles to have a little more shine than they do now. When I sand I typically go up to 800 grit by hand. Is that enough? Or should I go higher. I make these knives to use so I dont want museum shine on the handles but I would like a little more shine.

Thanks,
Bradley

 

[knifemaking01]

you should be using the 3m stuff for polishing

here is a list of bladsmiths stuff that are a must have for finishing this is straight from what he posted so i take no credit for the information

I touched up your post for spelling and language clarity.

The 3M polish papers are superb for finishing both blades and handles. They come in a pack with the grits color coded.The grits size is equivalent to 400-8000. You can buy individual sheets of each grade,too.
If making a bulk order, I would get:
20 of green - 30 micron
10 of gray - 15 micron
10 blue - 9 micron
5 pink- 3 micron
5 mint - 2 micron
5 white - 1 micron.

Also, get a good assortment of 3M Imperial abrasive sheets in sizes from 220 grit to 2500 grit. Buying a quantity of each is usually cheaper and will stock you for a while.
Suggested grits and amounts:
220 - 20 sheets
400 - 20 sheets
800- 10 sheets
1000 - 5 sheets
2000 - 5 sheets
2500 - 5 sheets

Here is a link to both items above so you can be sure you are ordering the right product:
http://www.stuller.com/search/results/?query=wet-or+dry

When you use these products, use the Abrasive sheets dry up to 800 grit, then go back to 400 and wet sand to 1000 or higher.
Then go back with the polish papers and start at green ( 30 micron/400 grit) and go all the way through the finest paper ( 1 micron/8000 grit).
There is nothing that will bring a better polish to a steel blade or ivory handle that these two products uses right. They work on steel, wood, plastic, ivory, etc. The polish papers should be stored in a plastic bag and can be used until they are worn out.
TIP - Mark an "X" on the back of the white/8000/1 micron sheet when you get it. It is nearly impossible to tell the abrasive side from the back side once you start to use it. The other grits are easy to tell the front from the back.

 

[Bradleyrj]

Thanks for the tips, I have a wonderful supply place right down the road from me to get the materials to. I see you didnt mention any compounds or buffing wheels. I assume your meaning that the finish I desire can be had without "buffing" with compounds and mechanical buffers?

 

[knifemaking01]

all by hand yep

 

[lonepine]

I THOUGHT I had a nice shine on my blades, almost mirror polish even, going up to 800 grit. What did I know? Apparently not near as much as I thought. When I tried wet sanding up to 2000 grit my eyes were opened. I also saw that my previous sanding was less than perfect with a lot more deep sand marks that were hidden by the 800 grit paper. Give it a try and see if it makes a difference.

Maybe it's because I have old eyes, but I now wear magnifiers when doing my final sanding. It seems to help me see the many little things that I had been passing over and letting slide. I couldn't fix what I couldn't see.

- Paul Meske

 

[12345678910]

In that top one, I'm looking at the scratches in the guard and they don't look like 800 grit to me.
Maybe you have to spend more time on the finishing before you go to buffing.


You didn't ask about this, but the top of the guard and handle are square, blocky.

Around here they call that the Blocky Handle Syndrome because everyone does it at first.

Aim for an oval, egg shaped handle that fits the hand.
You can go at the top corner of that guard and handle pretty aggressively with a file.

 

[scs.knives]

Out of curiosity are those knives made with kit blades?

 

[jll346]

The knife with the guard and mosaic pins needs some work. The guard is very scratched and needs some time spent on it. Also the pins look distorted. Camera or actually the pins?? The handle material and the tang don't look flush? Just the camera or fit issue? Good start reguardless.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Look like pre-made blades to me.
If so, you aren't "making" the knives- you are "assembling" them. There's a lot of difference.

 

[Bradleyrj]

Yes, assembling is a better term, and one I am ok with using for myself. I DO plan to eventually make my own blades so at least for know lets call me a knife assembler, and not a knife maker. I am open to all of your guys comments and suggestions to. I will go back and work on the brass bolstered knife some more and see what I can get out of it.

The pins are ok, just screwed up looking in the pictures. I have done a lot of reading here.. It seems I am quite a bit "out of my league" when it compares to the other knives being produced from the members here. I like to remind myself for what ever project I am on "Hey, they had to start somewhere to"! So while I am just a knife assembler right now, I hope thats acceptable to you guys and I can learn more and eventually make my own blades.

Second question... any other members close to me I could bounce some questions off of face to face? I'm in Conway SC

 

[jll346]

Go into your profile and fill everything out with your personal info. Most likely others will be near by. Also enable your PM option so we can send you a message. Premade KIT knives are not bad at all. They will at least give you a good understanding of some basic skills needed with fit and finish.

Don't get all caught up in the "buffer" thing. Definately not necessary to make a nice knife. If you do not have machines, get some nice files, big assortment of sandpaper, metal, handle material and get to it!!

 

[aarongb]

I think "Cutler" is the right word?

Anyway, I think you just need to step down through the grits. The goal is to smooth all the scratches from the previous grit, until the new scratches are uniform. Be patient and don't skip on time or paper. Use as much light as possible.

 

[knifemaking01]

yeah if your seeing those scratches like what where all seeing go back 1 or 2 grits ie back to 400, and make sure you not only get rid of those deep scratches, also alternate in the direction of sanding that not only allows you too see that all your old scratches are gone but when you go to the next grit up you alternate direction again making sure your not leaving scratches behind....

I think if your planning to sell the knives then you should be honest about how you make them, you dont want to give your potential customers a false idea of how the blades where made. plenty of guys out there do the pre blade made thing, it saved alot of time and there really nicely cut blades.

I was the same as you i realised alot went into finishing but after coming here i was so underestimating lol

 

[Bradleyrj]

I have been honest with the few people that bought my knives so far. Misrepresentation is a pet peave of mine. I just didnt realize I should be considering myself an assembler rather than a maker. BUT I am ok with that. I got 2 more people last night wanting a custom knife, and both know that I use blades I did NOT produce.

I am planning on buying some plain stock and grinding my own blade. After some research I dont think I am anywhere near ready to attempt forging my own. But grinding is something I feel confident I could learn, AFTER I get the sanding down to a finer science and not leave scratches in the bolsters or wood.

Thanks again for the help and kind words. Its nice, that my wife says she is proud of how the knives look but its also good to hear you guys give words of encouragement also.