Polish a custom blade to mirror!

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Rapier6868

Joined
Nov 17, 2009
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Friend of mine named Earl made me an eating knife and pick for my renaissance era character. Initially he used some crappy leather he got from someone and it totally ate away at the steel. Earl remade the sheath and even sent another set he had made. Earl is very cool might I add. Thing is he polished all the blades but they are sorta rough and have noticable polishing scratches and marks. I want to put a mirror polish on all of them. What would I use? I'm sure it's some level of sandpaper or some such. I just want the expert knowledge please. I really like my blade and don't want to screw them up.
 
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Unless you get a paper wheel, you will need to use emory paper of 2000-4000 grit.

In order to reduce polishing time, you may want to first use 420, 600 and 1200 grit to remove most of the deeper scratches.

So we are supposed to know "Earl"?
 
As a suggestion from someone who know very little...

A mirror finish will show every tiny scratch/fingerprint/etc. Personally, it would drive me crazy every time I blemished it and would waste way too much time keeping it polished. Further, it would seem more fitting for a renaissance era character to carry a knife that showed plenty of character...I doubt that people living in those times had a great deal of time to keep their blades brightly polished.

Just my 2 cents.
 
I very much doubt that mirror polished blades would be in period. Some scratches and patina would be authentic. River silt and brick dust were commonly used pre industrial polishing agents.

We moderns get a mirror polish using a buffer with felt wheels and various buffing compounds. Brownells is a good source for that stuff, but it's a sizeable investment. and no job for a beginner. A mirror polish shows every flaw. If you really want a mirror finish, your best bet would be to have a pro do it.
 
unit said:
As a suggestion from someone who know very little...

A mirror finish will show every tiny scratch/fingerprint/etc. Personally, it would drive me crazy every time I blemished it and would waste way too much time keeping it polished. Further, it would seem more fitting for a renaissance era character to carry a knife that showed plenty of character...I doubt that people living in those times had a great deal of time to keep their blades brightly polished.

Just my 2 cents.
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That would depend on a persons rank. The peasants used wooden utensils. Don't have to polish those. The nobility didn't have to polish their nice metal ware. They had peasants for doing that.

So if Rapier's character is of the nobility (which it should be else the metal utensils are out of character) then they should be polished (in this case by him as he has no servants to do it for him. :D)
 
knarfeng said:
That would depend on a persons rank. The peasants used wooden utensils. Don't have to polish those. The nobility didn't have to polish their nice metal ware. They had peasants for doing that.

So if Rapier's character is of the nobility (which it should be else the metal utensils are out of character) then they should be polished (in this case by him as he has no servants to do it for him. :D)
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Like I said....I know very little. But at least I am learning every day!
Thanks
 
knarfeng said:
That would depend on a persons rank. The peasants used wooden utensils. Don't have to polish those. The nobility didn't have to polish their nice metal ware. They had peasants for doing that.

So if Rapier's character is of the nobility (which it should be else the metal utensils are out of character) then they should be polished (in this case by him as he has no servants to do it for him. :D)
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Thank you, and yes I am Sir Thomas Manners Earl of Rutland. lol Anyway I would polish it regardless as that was the way it originally was before the old leather sheath started eating away at the steel. New sheath now and all the rust polished off, but I want it back the way it was. Not even sure if I can but I am going to try.
 
I have handrubbed many many blades and my one piece of advice is never throw away old sand paper till there is nothing left of it...The best finishes i've got were from very old, over used piece of sand paper (as the grit wears down on the blade the finish gets finer).

The finest grit i have bought is 1200, after using it a while it wears down for that mirror polish.
 
Robert.B said:
I have handrubbed many many blades and my one piece of advice is never throw away old sand paper till there is nothing left of it...The best finishes i've got were from very old, over used piece of sand paper (as the grit wears down on the blade the finish gets finer).

The finest grit i have bought is 1200, after using it a while it wears down for that mirror polish.
Click to expand...

What he said ! I save my old paper in ziplock bags and use it when im out of finer grits :D - good advice :thumbup:

That said , I also agree mirror polish is not the best for a user knife , although I do believe it is the most corrosion resistant finish ? correct me if I am wrong.

Tostig
 
yeah the carbon blades i bring to mirror dont rust anywhere near as quick...and goop that will make the blade rust comes off easier.
 
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