Polishing 1095 blade,,,ideas?

T

timfish

Joined
Jun 4, 2022
Messages
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I want to make the knives I been making out of 1095 all polished and pretty....after heat treat and tempering I use a flip wheel on angle grinder...but I wanna make it all "pretty"...How do yall do it?
THANKS!!!!
 
Basic idea is to sand at increasingly higher grit levels and then eventually use a full-sized buffer/buffing wheel with some polishing compound for final polishing.

A few tips:

1) Don’t move up in grit size too fast. Off the top of my head, a progression might look something like 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500.

If you jump directly from 220 to 800 it’ll take MUCH longer to get the 220 scratches out.

2) Change the direction of work between grits to show your old scratches. In other words - say you sand tip to butt in 220 grit. When you move to 400 grit you should sand from spine to edge (perpendicular to the original direction) so you can tell when you’ve sanded enough. Then back to tip - butt sanding when you move to 600.

3) Make/use a sanding block

4) Understand that using a buffer on a knife can literally be fatal. Learn how to use a buffer safely before you turn it on.

5) Watch some YouTube videos on the subject.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
scdub said:
Basic idea is to sand at increasingly higher grit levels and then eventually use a full-sized buffer/buffing wheel with some polishing compound for final polishing.

A few tips:

1) Don’t move up in grit size too fast. Off the top of my head, a progression might look something like 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500.

If you jump directly from 220 to 800 it’ll take MUCH longer to get the 220 scratches out.

2) Change the direction of work between grits to show your old scratches. In other words - say you sand tip to butt in 220 grit. When you move to 400 grit you should sand from spine to edge (perpendicular to the original direction) so you can tell when you’ve sanded enough. Then back to tip - butt sanding when you move to 600.

3) Make/use a sanding block

4) Understand that using a buffer on a knife can literally be fatal. Learn how to use a buffer safely before you turn it on.

5) Watch some YouTube videos on the subject.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you VERY much!!!!!
 
Don't for get to use polishing compound, it is one of the "secret" ingredient to make a mirror surface, if that's what you are aiming for.
 
Thanks,,,does a mirror shine actually help 1095 from rusting or accelerate rust?
I've forced.a patina on all the knives I've made for fear of rust,,,
Thanks again
 
A mirror shine will help prevent corrosion, as will a patina. Neither will stop corrosion if you neglect it.
 
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