polishing tips

C

chris22

Joined
Oct 29, 1999
Messages
156
Forumites, I have a question for you. How can I give my khukuris a mirror polish? I don't have any power tools, so that my efforts will only be powered by good old fashioned elbow grease and tender loving care. I have tried very fine sandpaper and steel wool, but I am only able to put a satin finish on them. The reason why I am asking is because a couple of my khukuris developed some light rust spots after the peanut oil I formerly used turned gummy. I've switched to mineral oil since then, and haven't experienced any problems at all. Thanks for any and all help.

Christian
 
I dont know too much about it,i do know you can find extremely fine grit sandpaper that would prabably do the job.

When im removing rust the first thign i use is a magicstone,those rubber blocks you can get in knife catalogs etc.Works great,will remove most of the rust.THats also the second step i do when cleanign a khuk after use (1st is to wash with warm water)
 
Try Fritz metal polish if it is not too badly rusted. There are varying degrees of sand paper that you can use. Lee Valley tools has a 0.5 micron sand paper. I have not tried polishing with it yet but it should give an excellent finish. I prefer to use water with the sand paper as it will increase the paper life and seems to give a better finish.

I don't worry about the appearance of the blade too much. Other khukuri users will have better info.

Will
 
The rust is gone. I've already used very fine sandpaper and steel wool. The problem is that when I did use it, the unrusted part of the blade went from mirror finish to satin. And Will, thanks for the tip. I used very fine sandpaper with water. The finish stayed satin though.
 
Sears sells A "Buffing Wheel and Compound Set" (928650) for $10. It has 4 different compounds: white, red rouge, brown & black; 3 different sizes of sewn 40-ply muslin wheels, and a modest mandrel (a washer can be added to each side if more stability is needed). If you have an electric drill, this rig will polish almost anything. I've searched the world over, from Dremel to the big stuff, and this is a lot for the money. If you can do better, please post it! Hope a solution comes up that suits you. Oh yeah, this stuff can be hard on the eyes and lungs, so goggles and mask are in order.
 
That 0.5 micron green sand paper is the finest stuff I have seen. If you are into real pain try buffing compound on a piece of leather. Rub with that and see how it turns out. Stropping with a 0.5 micron compound puts a mirror polishes the edge on my blades.

Like Lt. Dan saids you can get a buffing wheel attachmetn for an electric drill for very cheap. It might be safer even since you can vise the knife down and move the drill. Flying knives while buffing has and will always be a serious hazard.

Will

[This message has been edited by Will Kwan (edited 09-11-2000).]
 
It is hard tedious work to polish to a mirror shine without power tools but it can be done. Use Wet or Dry sand paper in successive finer grits untill you have it up to a fine smooth 600 grit finish. Then you need to start with using polishing rouge on cloth or leather. Brownells carries the best. They are like small cakes of compressed abrassive in a waxy media. Work a little into a soft dense cloth or piece of leather and polish untill you get the best polish you can with that grade, then get another clean rag and start over with the next finer grade. Work at an angle to the direction you used the last grit. Don't use a circular motion, straight strokes are easier to work out with the next grit. Be patient, the scratches from one grit need to be completely worked out by the next before moving on to a finer polishing compound. The best final polishing compound I know of are the three grades of Brownell's "555" brand of metal polishes.
http://www.brownells.com/Product/index.asp

Note, a speck of coarser grit in with your finer grit will mar the job, use clean, soft cloth or leather to work the polish into and keep separate. Have fun! Its a lot of work but the first time you can see yourself in your work it is very satisfying.
 
:
You will be surprised at what an old piece of denim cloth will do in polishing anything.
Loaded with fine abrasive it does wonders and doesn't wear out as fast as an old t-shirt.
I used to polish aluminium with denim by itself. The oxide that comes off the aluminium is a dayumed good polishing agent itself and will gradually build up on the denim making it better the more it's used.

I keep the ones I don't use fairly well polished, but on all my users I use the maroon Scotch Brite pads being careful not to dull the edge with them. The Scotch Brite puts a beautiful satin finish on the blades and you don't mind cleaning them up after a nasty workout.


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