Newbie needs some tips on blade polishing

[TheBleedingEdge]

Hello, knife nuts

I'm want to start making some simple modifications to my knives, and I thought I'd get some input from those of you with more experience. For my first job, I'd like to turn a couple of my knives with bead-blasted blades into more polished knives, either to a satin finish or a full polish.

Any tips on what equipment, techniques, and online resources I should be aware of? What do you guys recommend? Many thanks!

 

[Noctis3880]

A bench grinder and the Caswell "Stainless Steel Polishing Kit" ought to get you far.

I managed to do this with a buffing wheel from Sears and a stick of white rouge from my Paper Wheel kit:

My camera sucks and I didn't use a good reference to check how reflective the surface is, but it's quite frankly a great mirror finish(you'll see your face in great detail on the blade). I suspect the white rouge compound I used is similar or the same to the "White Lightning Stainless Rouge" from Caswell. The rouge wasn't aggressive enough to get rid of the factory grind lines, but it did smooth them down quite a bit.

When I get my buffing kit from Caswell, I ought to be able to put a perfectly smooth finish on the blade.

Exercise extreme caution when using buffing wheels on knives. The wheel has a tendency to "grab" the knife. Keep a firm grip on the knife and don't turn any edges(90 degree angles) towards the wheel. It takes some practice to get it right and I would suggest practicing with a cheap paring knife first.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Exercise extreme caution when using buffing wheels on knives. The wheel has a tendency to "grab" the knife. Keep a firm grip on the knife and don't turn any edges(90 degree angles) towards the wheel. It takes some practice to get it right and I would suggest practicing with a cheap paring knife first.

And I really hope you had some shoes on while you worked? I couldn't help but notice your bare toes in the second pic. I'm hoping you were relaxin' after a job well done?