How To Noob: Fixing 'scratches' above the edge?

[Se99jmk]

Being new to sharpening stones, I appear to have accidentally unevenly scratched the area above the edge of the blade (photos attached).

What's the best way to polish this out? I've got a King 1000/6000 combo stone...

Maybe lie the blade nearly flat on the 6k and just rub them out?

(p.s.showing a blade off in this state is probably cringeworthy! Hope you can help)
(p.p.s I actually don't know what brand the blade is, european with a full tang, nice and heavy, but no brand markings of any kind - hand-me-down knife!)

 

[SteelJunkee]

If you are going to use the knife, better learn to live with them they don't seem that bad,

But if you want to remove them absolutely you will have to refinish the blade completely depending on the current finish, polishing the blade is an option but if you want it to be homogeneous you will have to do it all.

Or you could also do a brushed finish with a belt sander. if you are going to polish the blade a polishing wheel with compound will give you the best results.

It could be difficult to do it on a stone depending on the primary grind of the blade.

A strop loaded with compound can also be used to polish the side of the blade.

 

[Se99jmk]

If you are going to use the knife, better learn to live with them they don't seem that bad.

It could be difficult to do it on a stone depending on the primary grind of the blade.

Thanks - the cutting is fine (well, something I'll get sharper / better at over time), just looks a bit... messy at the moment

I don't have any other tools available, so guess I'll live with it! (I'll tell people it's a "hand-crafted, uniquely-crafted blade... like carefully worn in jeans" )

 

[SteelJunkee]

Thanks - the cutting is fine (well, something I'll get sharper / better at over time), just looks a bit... messy at the moment

I don't have any other tools available, so guess I'll live with it! (I'll tell people it's a "hand-crafted, uniquely-crafted blade... like carefully worn in jeans" )

If you rub your nail tip on the scratches and they don't catch your nail, the scratches are benign if on the other hand your nails catches a lot then they would be harder to remove. Polishing a blade "by hand" is a lot of work, loll.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

A Scotchbrite wheel would take them right out, and you could easily refinish the entire blade.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

On satin-finished blades such as that, I've sometimes just laid the blade flush to some wet/dry sandpaper over a firm/hard backing (wood, stone, glass, etc). I've usually used a granite reference plate (~ 10" x 12" or so) for that, with something like 220/320-grit sandpaper, which often emulates common factory 'satin' finishes on blades, and is aggressive enough to fix some pretty deep scratches pretty quickly, especially on kitchen-grade stainless. Affix the paper with some glue or tape to keep it from lifting or moving around. Make linear passes parallel to the original grind lines (looks like yours has vertical lines, spine-to-edge). Make the passes in one direction only, lift & replace the blade, pass again, to keep the lines as straight and uniform as you can. Alternatively, on large blades, you could affix the blade to a table/bench, or in a clamp or vise, and use a decent-sized sanding block with the sandpaper, used like a file in a similar manner (linear passes in one direction).

At some point, I eventually learn to embrace or least accept those sharpening scratches, save maybe for the really out-of-pattern, hideous ones anyway. They're sort of a 'road map' of my progress over time, and they don't bother me as much on user/old knives that already have some 'character' to them. Focus on making it SHARP, first and foremost; the cosmetic stuff will come and improve with more experience, practice and time. SHARP is beautiful in it's own right.

 

[Se99jmk]

Thanks for all the advice!

Yeah, sharpening technique and results should be the focus - but aiming for perfection in finish too (longer term )

Right now, sounds like trying to fix it is definitely more effort than worth (for this blade at least)

However - without power tools, fixing sandpaper to a block and mimicking original “satin finish” direction sounds like a good option

 

[Alberta Ed]

'Snail trails' often mysteriously appear on my blades, no matter how careful I try to be (apparently, not careful enough).

 

[Se99jmk]

'Snail trails' often mysteriously appear on my blades, no matter how careful I try to be (apparently, not careful enough).

Ha!! Glad it’s not just me then ;-)

I figured it was a technique thing (not keeping the edge at the same angle), and it’ll probably improve over time - good to know I’m not the only one!