polishing

[JJ20198]

Im thinking of polishing my buck model 503T the nickel is a little scratched up I know it is not a big deal but i want it to look more fancy i was going to do it with me dremel and some jewelers rouge is this a good idea

 

[Bill DeShivs]

No. Use progressively finer wet/dry sandpaper. Start with 600 grit and work up to the finest you can find 2500 grit is available. Then use Simichrome/Flitz/etc. on a soft cloth.
You won't get a good finish with the Dremel.

 

[mhawg]

A Dremel is a great tool for assisting in screwing things up twice as fast as by hand. Get a Miracle Cloth or a Flitz Cloth first before you grind it down to the liner!!

 

[siguy]

i think that perhaps the two previous answerers misunderstood the question...

if you intend to use a buffing wheel with compound this will work fine.

if you intend to use a grinding stone then no, don't use the dremel.

doing it by hand will work too, and give you a minute more to think about things and relax. to polish up bolsters sometimes i just use a stop loaded with tripoli and then another loaded with red jeweler's rouge. brings that shine back fine.

 

[nevertoomany]

Sorry, Siguy: gotta go with DeShivs and Mhawg! Too much experience messing up stuff with a Dremel. Its a great tool but not, I find, for fine polishing. Leaves swirls or streaks. Slow and easy by hand is better.

Bob

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I didn't misunderstand anything. The Dremel is a wonderful tool in professional hands. It's not much good for polishing anything bigger than a ring. The buffing wheels are too small to get a consistent finish.
I restore cutlery professionally, and I try to help folks out here. The reason I suggest hand work more often than not is that it's much harder to screw things up.
Bill

 

[Seals]

use the sandpaper.If the knife is a beater you can try the dremil,but you will prolly screw it up.If it has dings it wont get these out.The paper will.