Polishing with dremel?

Bill DeShivs said:
You can do lots of things with a Dremel. Learning HOW to do them is something a lot of people can't master. It requires practice, understanding how the tool works, and most importantly-finesse. You have to let the tool do the work.
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No argument there. :thumbsup:

The only way to find out if one can master it is to try. Even masters were 'newbies' at some point, once upon a time.
 
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Knife Crazied said:
I'm going to keep practicing and hopefully become fairly good at it. Thank goodness for cheap knives. Lol
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Cheap knives and PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE. Just take it nice & easy, observe closely as you work, and never stop thinkin' about ways to do it better.

BTW, the mention of your Buck 112 has goaded me into taking a look at one of mine (a 4-dot 112 that could use a little cleaning up & polishing too). I think I'll spend some time, over the next 2 or 3 days, shining it up a bit. Probably use a combination of the sandpaper, to work out some dings & scratches, then maybe the Dremel for some finishing shine. I'll see if I can post a few pics when I'm done with it.

Best regards.
 
When you get her done feel free to post photos here in this thread. I appreciate all your help Dave.
 
I know a guy that rebuilds knives completely with a dremel alone.Yes,it can be done.I dont recommend it because of the number of knives ive seen ruined by people using dremels.Its easy to remove material with a power tool,but the reverse switch doesnt put it back on.
 
Seals said:
I know a guy that rebuilds knives completely with a dremel alone.Yes,it can be done.I dont recommend it because of the number of knives ive seen ruined by people using dremels.Its easy to remove material with a power tool,but the reverse switch doesnt put it back on.
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Thanks a lot Don. :grumpy: I've thought all this time reverse would put the material back. LOL :D That is a very good point you just made. :thumbup:
 
I use a cotton polishing wheel. The fabric and compound remove very little material. Just stay mindful of the direction of rotation and the metal mounting at the center of the attachment.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
This got me to thinking. I broke out the calculator.

The Dremel referenced by the OP (Dremel 7.2) has two speeds: 10,000 and 20,000 rpm (assuming I found the correct specs for this model).

Assuming using the lower speed (10k) and a 1" diameter felt wheel, the wheel will rotate through it's full circumference (3.14") 10,000 times per minute. That translates to 31,400" of abrasive moving over the polished object, per minute.

A 6" diameter buffing wheel, mounted on a bench grinder, running at the same pace (31,400" per minute), would be spinning at a rate of 1666 rpm. This is due, obviously, to the larger circumference of the wheel (18.84").

An 8" diameter buffing wheel (circumference = 25.12"), running at 31,400" per minute, would have an equivalent rpm of 1250.

Most 'low speed' bench buffer/grinders (both 6" and 8") are spec'd at about 1750 rpm. This puts it in perspective. A lot of people will shy away from using a Dremel because 10,000 rpm seems 'too fast', but won't hesitate to perform the same work on a bench-mounted 1750 rpm buffer/grinder, which might very well be faster and even more aggressive.
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thanks for the maths, i was too lazy for this but this was my point.
 
pwet said:
thanks for the maths, i was too lazy for this but this was my point.
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You're welcome.

I did understand what you were saying. I'm glad you brought it up, because the same thing had occurred to me in the past, but I'd never actually taken the time to sit down & crunch the numbers. It really did put the whole thing in perspective, for me. Felt like I learned something new there. :thumbup:
 
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Knife Crazied said:
When you get her done feel free to post photos here in this thread. I appreciate all your help Dave.
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Here are a few pics.

I used 280/320/400/600 grit to sand the bolsters (280 was for removing some fairly significant 'dings' in the brass). Beyond that, I sort of experimented with polishing w/the Dremel & green compound. Polishing will reveal some of the deeper scratches not completely removed in earlier sanding (& it did, you'll see in the pics).

So, I went back and finished sanding with 1000/2000 grit, then a little more of the green compound on the felt wheel, then finished with a separate (clean) felt wheel & some Simichrome polish. Did this part on only the one bolster so far (had to make sure it'd work). The other 3 bolsters are currently left at the finish left by the 600 grit.


Here's the 'before' pic:


Here, you can see the dings in the bolster (& other scratches):


This is how it looked after the 600 grit & green compound polish (see the scratches that didn't get removed? :grumpy:):


Here's the finished result, after 1000/2000 grit & polish (using a clean felt wheel w/Simichrome):


And one more:

I'll probably post some more pics in the Buck sub-forum, after I get the rest of it finished off. I'll put a link here, too.

Best regards. :)
 
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That looks really good! So for how long approximately did you have to use each different grit? I'm sorry for the crazy question but I really truly want to learn! BTW what does "grit" stand for in the sandpaper? I know its the grits of sand but for say 600 grit what exactly does it mean? Thank you Ash
 
Knife Crazied said:
That looks really good! So for how long approximately did you have to use each different grit? I'm sorry for the crazy question but I really truly want to learn! BTW what does "grit" stand for in the sandpaper? I know its the grits of sand but for say 600 grit what exactly does it mean? Thank you Ash
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Most of the time is spent on the coarse & medium grits, UNLESS there aren't too many heavy scratches or dings in the brass. In my case, there weren't too many, but just a couple that were fairly deep. That's why I started at 280/320. Think I spent 45 - 60 minutes at that step. If it'd been just light scratches, you could probably start at 400/600 and be fine. The coarser grits leave heavy scratches on their own, so it takes a little more time to smooth those out with the medium grits (400/600). As you progress towards the finer grits, it should not take as much time. The 1000/2000 went very quickly & easily. Those scratches seen in the pic (the ones I failed to completely remove in the first pass) were probably left by the 400/600 grit paper. Even so, I think I only spent maybe 5 - 10 minutes cleaning 'em up with the 1000 grit.

I improvised a small, flexible 'sanding block', using a white rubber 'Magic Rub' eraser (2-1/4" x 1" x 1/2"), with a small piece of sandpaper wrapped around it. This particular eraser is pretty rubbery/soft/flexible, made for use in drafting/drawing, where a stiffer eraser might tear the paper, and it actually worked out pretty well. Allowed nice, even pressure to be applied with the sandpaper, and was flexible enough to mold itself into most of the rounded contours on the knife (like the notch for the lock release; used the edge of the eraser on that). Using something harder with the sandpaper might cause some flat-spotting on the radiused (rounded) edges of the bolsters.

As for what the 'grit' term means in this case, I honestly don't know what it implies, in terms of actual size of the abrasive particles. I look at it in relative terms only, don't worry about the actual particle size. For use on brass, the 320 and lower are what I'd call 'coarse' (leaves fairly deep scratches, but will remove metal quickly), the 400/600 will begin to apply a pretty attractive 'satin' finish (these are what I'd call 'medium' grits), and the 1000/2000 are what I'd call 'fine' & 'extra fine', for this purpose. The 2000, in particular, will actually leave a pretty good polish on it's own. I noticed, on the steel in particular (blade spine, backspring, spring holder), the 2000 brings it up to a nice shine. On the brass, since it's considerably softer, you might still see some very, very fine scratches from the 2000, but those are quickly cleaned up with the polishing steps (using Simichrome/Flitz or similar paste).
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
I used a Dremel with a 1" diameter felt wheel and a little bit of green compound to clean up & buff this:

The 'shine' you see on the bolsters & delrin is the finished result.

It's not impossible. You do need to be very careful, though. The felt wheel with the compound will generate a lot of heat quickly. Use the lowest speed possible. When working on or near delrin or other synthetic scales, use VERY LIGHT pressure (as if you were polishing with just a Q-tip chucked into the Dremel) and sweep VERY LIGHTLY across in a smooth motion. Lingering in a given spot will burn/melt the Delrin in a second. The same will result if you apply even a little too much pressure.

The 'uneven' finish issue, isn't really as much of an issue on something small, like a bolster. I've had good results by moving the Dremel back & forth in a direction perpendicular to the spinning motion of the wheel. In other words, sweep LIGHTLY back & forth in a direction parallel to the long axis of the tool. On the knife pictured above, I had the wheel parallel to the 'seam' between the bolster & scale, moving the tool back & forth from the seam, towards the end of the bolster & back, while working gradually across the width of the bolster.

I'd strongly recommend practicing first with your Dremel on something that you're not afraid to damage. Find something made of plastic/nylon/Delrin and see what results you get with it when applying excess pressure and/or lingering in one spot for a length of time. With lighter colored material, it's possible that you'll see some discoloring too. You'll quickly get a sense for the 'touch' needed when working on/near soft materials.

There's also the potential for 'skating' into something you don't want to touch. The spinning wheel can 'bite' or grab if you lean into it too hard, or if you don't maintain a steady hold of both the knife and the tool.

The felt wheel & compound won't do much for removing scratches in bolsters. For that, I've had good results with 400/600 grit sandpaper, then higher if desired.

I'm not saying the Dremel is the best way to go about it. But, since you have the tool already, there's nothing wrong with taking the time to practice with it and find out what it's capabilities are (and yours too). Like any tool, it can do some very nice things in the hands of someone who takes the time to figure it out. Good luck.
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I'm NEW......
TROUBLE POSTING PIC URL OF KNIFE
ANYWAY just trying to see polished
Pic you posted http...
But click on address an site just cycles returned to the original post
Great tech Dremel advice..
Finding out hard way..but taking time
Slow speed an extra fine grit..
Used polish cream metal restore gritty type to shin...
FIGURED ROTORY SOON WOULD SCUFF SURFACE
RUST pits some what ..looks better than before started..knifes only WW2 DECADES OLD,,,BUT
GREAT ADVICE!!!
 
Kerry Rankin said:
I'm NEW......
TROUBLE POSTING PIC URL OF KNIFE
ANYWAY just trying to see polished
Pic you posted http...
But click on address an site just cycles returned to the original post
Great tech Dremel advice..
Finding out hard way..but taking time
Slow speed an extra fine grit..
Used polish cream metal restore gritty type to shin...
FIGURED ROTORY SOON WOULD SCUFF SURFACE
RUST pits some what ..looks better than before started..knifes only WW2 DECADES OLD,,,BUT
GREAT ADVICE!!!
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I updated the picture link in the post of mine (post #13 in this thread), which you quoted above. All of the images I've previously posted in this thread and others on BF used to live on the Photobucket site, but I'd since deleted all of them there and removed all links to them in old posts of mine here. That's why many of them aren't visible anymore.

This particular pic was of a Schrade (USA) Old Timer 108 OT stockman, which was in pretty good shape overall, but lived in the back of a desk drawer with lots of other clutter for 20+ years or so. The bolsters were scuffed up after rattling around in the desk drawer for so long, and I used the Dremel with the cotton wheel & green compound to clean it up. Small & simple job, but it still shows a Dremel actually can work for these things when it's used with a light touch. :)
 
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Mother's Metal Polish with your dremel will polish your blade and look like a mirror , just go slow in the same direction . Makes a 45ACP feed ramp like a mirror , will do the same to your knife .
 
I do not use a dremel however, I use a Foredom foot controlled unit and it does a fantastic job. It is just a matter of learning to use what you have. Patience is the buzz word.
 
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