I think my definition of a shop knife must be different, a knife not quite good enough to sell but absolutely good enough to use.
Thanks Marcus, there are many different methods but this is what I did on this knife.
The handle has a tung oil finish,
After shaping I hand sand to about 400 grit paper then hit it with 600 grit polishing cloth to make sure I don't have any deep scratches anywhere. I don't like to fine sand too much at this point until after I apply the sanding sealer, tack the wood before applying sealer. The sanding sealer depends on the finish I'm using, in this case tung oil so I dilute that with petroleum distillate. When the sealer is dry I'll use 600 grit cloth and keep doing this procedure until the surface of the wood is smooth, no open pores anywhere.
When I'm sure it's sealed I sand with 1200 then 4000 grit polishing cloth, tack and rub on the first coat of tung oil. I found it's important to make sure the wood and oil is at least 70 degrees before applying and while drying, I'll put the knife in a light box to dry if it's too cold. When dry I rub with fine fibral wool (a non metallic steel wool), tack and rub on another coat of tung oil. I think this one has 2 maybe 3 coats but you'll know when you don't need any more. When thoroughly dry I buffed the final coat with worn fine fibral wool and applied a couple coats of carnauba wax.
Blade polishing,
The blade polishing depends on what look I want for each knife, I have yet to do a full traditional polishing. On this blade I focused my polishing more on the hardened area and left the softer spine a little dirty for a 2 toned effect. Whatever look I'm after I bring each blade to a near mirror finish first, making sure of no deep scratches anywhere. I have containers with different etching solutions, this one I used 1 part ferric chloride, 1 part vinegar and 3 parts distilled water.
Before etching I thoroughly wash the blade with dish washing detergent and hot water, dry with a paper towel and make sure I don't touch the blade and immediately dip in the etch for 20 - 30 seconds each. I dipped 3 maybe 4 times on this one lightly rubbing with fine fibral wool in between dips. Immediately after the final dip I neutralized the etch with ammonia enhanced windex, doesn't smell as bad as straight ammonia and it's convenient in the shop with the spray bottle. I then wash the blade with fine fibral wool and dish washing detergent. If I'm going to polish the blade right away I won't oil it but will if it's going to sit for a while. At this point you will clearly see the transition line allowing you to select the area to polish. I have a few different sanding backers that I use but mainly use a 1/4" thick hard rubber for polishing, cut to a little over the width of the blade 1 1/2" in this case by roughly 1/2" that I wrap polishing cloth around. The flexible cloth and square shoulders of the rubber allow me to polish the plunge cleanly.
This blade has a full taper so I supported the length on my adjustable support block and held it in a vise, same as a support for distal taper blade hand sanding. At this point the blade looks pretty dirty and I want to lightly remove the oxide layer to expose the grain of the steel (using the word grain for lack of technical term). I use Flitz and a paper towel until very little black comes off on the towel. On this knife I started with 1200 grit polishing cloth wrapped around the rubber backer and worked sections of the blade down the length starting with the ricasso down in the plunge ending at the tip. The beauty of this backer is it's hard but flexible and allows me to apply more pressure on the hardened side while still lightly and equally working the soft steel side.
When you finish this step you should start seeing the activity in the transition line, next I use 4000 grit and do the same procedure then 6000 grit. If I'm happy with how it looks at this point I'll start focusing more on the line itself with 8000 grit and my finger as a backer. Here's where you can start doing different things to bring out more activity but on this one I blended everything with paper. I've used paper towels, meat wrapping paper, brown paper bags but on this one I used biodegradable rv/marine toilet paper. I always kind of hated that stuff when camping but it works well for polishing, sit down watch tv and rub it out. The more you rub with the paper the more it defines the lines and it's not bad cardiovascular exercise. Finish with wax or oil, I used Eesox for this blade.
Sorry to be so long winded, I tried to condense as much as possible.
Dave
Here's another reject blade that I practiced polishing on, it may end up as a new shop knife.
), so I can feel with you on the health issues. I hope you recover soon and completly.
