polishing your Bolsters. how do you do it?

MercyfulfateXX

MercyfulfateXX

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Mar 2, 2014
Messages
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is there an effective way to actually polish your Knife bolsters to where they actually get the light scratches out? ive tried a dremel with a polishing wheel, and a few other things that don't really work.would 0000 steel wool do a decent job?

thanks in advance.
 
Any polishing compound will work, used with a clean rag and some 'elbow grease'. Flitz, Simichrome, Mother's Mag & Wheel Polish, Brasso, etc. will all get the work done on brass or nickel bolsters. The Flitz, Simichrome (it's pink, BTW) and Mother's will also work pretty well for stropping also. In fact, the polishing compounds will also work very well with your Dremel polishing wheel; just be careful not to linger too long in one spot, on Delrin or other plastics on your handle. The speed of the Dremel and the compound will melt Delrin in about two seconds, if you don't keep the wheel moving.

If scratches are still too heavy to remove with the polishing compound, some 2000+ grit wet/dry sandpaper should take care of that. Then follow again with the polishing compound, after sanding. Both brass and nickel will sand easily, so using a higher grit is generally a better way to start. Go lower in grit only if scratches are very deep, or if there are dents or other dings in the metal. Then start down around ~400/600 grit and work back up the grit sequence, through 2000 or higher and follow with the polishing paste.


David
 
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Thank you obsessed,
being a Knife collector/user for 35 years you would think I would know this stuff but until I started buying G.E.C.s and the like I never much cared for shiny bolsters,lol


now I do.
 
MercyfulfateXX said:
Thank you obsessed,
being a Knife collector/user for 35 years you would think I would know this stuff but until I started buying G.E.C.s and the like I never much cared for shiny bolsters,lol


now I do.
Click to expand...

If you still want some of your bolsters to look good without the 'shine', I've noticed that some 600-800 grit sanding can leave a very nice 'satin' finish on them. I sort of found this by accident in cleaning up some corrosion on a nickel-bolstered Hen & Rooster folder. Used the sandpaper to get a nasty stain off, intending to restore an 'as new' shine, but liked the finish left by the mid-grit sandpaper. Also does a pretty good job hiding finger smudges. So I left it there. :)


David
 
MercyfulfateXX said:
Thanks bigmark! ill try that. now when you say pink compound you do mean the pink wax?
Click to expand...

Pink compound is the best on a wheel for removing scratched and leaving a high polish.

If you want a nice satin the black compound as mentioned above.
 
great advice and duly noted Gentlemen, im off to the store to pickup some stuff now,

thanks a million for your replies!
 
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