CPM440V will fight you all the way for a good polish. Don't expect to get a mirror finish on this steel. If you are taking if further than 600 grit, go down to your local auto parts store and get some 800, 1000, and 1200 grit silicon carbide sandpaper. Its the charcoal gray or black sandpaper. Use something to back the sandpaper, something like a sanding block. I use either micarta or corian for this but any hardwood would work. Mine are about 3/4 inch wide by about 4 inches long. Use water or a cutting fluid to "wet sand" the steel. This helps.
This steel, as mentioned before, is not conducive to a mirror finish. If the knife will be used, a mirror finish is no longer a mirror finish the first time it is used. When I have used this steel, I stopped at about 1000 grit but 600 or 800 grit would have been more than sufficient. If you do decide to do a hand rubbed finish, the key is getting the little "j's" or fishhooks out with the final grit you are using. Basically, just wrap your sandpaper around your sanding block/stick, and with the tang of the blade in a vise, rub in one direction, from plunge to tip. This is a little more difficult than you think. Make sure you have ALL the scratches out from the preceeding grit before doing this. You don't need much pressure for the final sanding. You are just taking the peaks off.
Lets see some pictures when you're done.
C Wilkins
