Project Satin Commander

Eric Blair

Eric Blair

Joined
Dec 25, 2000
Messages
868
Hi guys.
Since new knives don't often arrive via UPS on weekends, I decided to give my pet Commander a makeover in order to satisfy my cravings for a new knife.
My Commander has been one of my daily carries for the past 6 or 7 months, and I've worked it hard. The black finish was starting to show a bit of wear, as seen here:
BlackCommander.JPG

So today I decided to give the blade a nice satin finish. I began by disassembling the Commander and stripping the black from the blade with 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Within 40 minutes all of the black was gone except for a few difficult to reach places. Out came the Dremel.
Using a rubber cone tip dipped in Flitz Metal Polish, I began polishing the remaining black away. Soon the blade was clean 154cm with no black anywhere. This polishing took perhaps 20 minutes. Dremels are gifts from the Gods.
I then spent an hour or so sanding the blade with 600 grit wet/dry, being careful to always keep the sandpaper moving in the same direction. The finishing touch was another drop or two of Flitz and a soft cloth. Here's the finished result:
SatinCommander.JPG

SatinCommanderBlade.JPG

This evening I'll probably take the Commander back apart and satin the screws and clip. All together I'll have possibly 3 hours invested in this project. I'm much happier with my Commander now.
smile.gif


------------------
Eric - Usual Suspect
"The best toys are the ones that you can put an eye out with."
weaver.gif
 
Eric,

NICE!

I see from the neat cartoon, you and I have a similar sense of humor. If you have not, you need to visit www.stickdeath.com Go to the Shocked Sh!t area. I think most peopl here will find it as amusing as I do

------------------
-Scott Richter
Usual Suspect
Sarcastic? Who, me?
 
Eric,

GREAT JOB!

It's no secret I've spent a fair amount of time the last month or so in Hospital waiting rooms. When I've had the time and privacy, I've been working on a Satin project of my own.

(I kept the blade and sandpaper in my paperback when others are around)


I wasn't so ambitious as to go right to a Commander, but I did do a CRK&T/"Ryan Number Seven". Many of you may have seen this recently released design and know that it comes bead blasted and can be a magnet for rust.

Obviously I didn't have the luxury of my work bench and Dremil tool, but I'm pretty damn happy with the results overall.

Picture

I actually did it all with one sheet of 800 grit sandpaper and probably two hours of cumulative elbow grease.

John

P.S. I know it's just a canned GIF, but the Firearms Instructor in me has to comment. Your stick figure is lowering his head to the Pistol when he should be bringing the pistol up to his line of site.
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Sorry, had to do it.
 
Nice job Eric. Wish I had confidence in my ability to do that to my old Black-T commander that has been riding in my pocket since they came out.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by John Hollister:

P.S. I know it's just a canned GIF, but the Firearms Instructor in me has to comment. Your stick figure is lowering his head to the Pistol when he should be bringing the pistol up to his line of site.
biggrin.gif
Sorry, had to do it.</font>
Click to expand...

Heheheheh Good eyes John.


 
Eric - nice job! I gotta get me one of those dremels.
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I LOVE stickdeath!!! LOL

John: how did you go about unbeadblasting the ridges on the top of the blade? Same sandpaper folded over?

And, is the stick guy using a modifed Weaver stance?
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[This message has been edited by See2 (edited 05-14-2001).]
 
David!!
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Did you ever get your's completely done? I'd love to see a picture.

See2, exactly. I put a small strip of foam in it to firm it up just a tad.

The GIF is a modified Weaver. Sort of the "Elbows bent" or "Crunched" version that was popular among the "in crowd" in the late Eighties. Not a traditional ("Proper") Weaver stance. It appears to have been effective though.
biggrin.gif


John

(Just for the record, I'm an "Isosceles" shooter myself)
 
Thanks for the kind words and compliments guys.
smile.gif

David! When the hell are you going to join us for one of our weekly chats?? We miss you, buddy!

------------------
Eric - Usual Suspect
"The best toys are the ones that you can put an eye out with."
weaver.gif
 
Hey guys, I wanted to show ya'll an alternative to "Satin" finishing one's Commander.

Jonas put up a thread under the "General" section about the "most used" knife or something like that. One local Commander came to mind. This poor bastard has been used. It's a '98 that has been through damn near everything. It's been a daily carry and "user" since it's purchase in 1998. The Black-T was scratched to the point that there was more metal showing then Black-T! It's been used to gut and clean Deer, cut open boxes, pried, twisted, waved repeatedly and daily for years, it's been converted to left handed carry in the past, the screws are buggered to Hell, ect, ect. If you can cut it with a knife, this baby has done it. This is the knife Ernie had in mind when he coined the phrase "#1 Hard Use Knives".

Recently however, it received a face lift. I wish I had gotten a picture of it "Pre-op".
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The owner, ever the Tinkerer, grabbed a "Midway Metal Magic" cloth and went to town. The cloth is designed to remove blueing, ect from firearms so that they can be refinished. I'm told that it actually removed what remained of the Black-T with ZERO effort.

The intention was to "Satin" finish the blade when the Black-T was removed, but the cloth left such a cool finish that the blade work was stopped right there.

What she had left is a "Gun Metal" grey, almost frosted or galvanized look. One nice touch is that the logo has been retained. The laser etching goes through the Black-T and into the metal.
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The only "bad" thing is that, as with the rubbed, uncoated satin finishes, the blade is more susceptible to rust. You have to occasionally wipe it down, but no more then any other uncoated finish.

Here are a couple of pictures, what do ya'll think?

Sarah's '98 Commander
Close up

John
 
I Like It!

Gonna have to check this stuff out.

My '98 was looking for a new face and this might be an answer.

Thanks John
Ross T.
 
dude!
that looks sweet-I really like that it left the logo on too. I'm gonna have to do mine that way.
As for some surface rust showing up if it's not cared for...isn't that why tuf-cloth was invented?
cheers,
DWE
 
Man, that's a cool finish John. How long before you start wiping your Commanders down with that stuff?
smile.gif

BTW, the Emerson logo seems to be etched fairly deep into the blade. I sanded and polished and polished and sanded but the logo is still readily visible! It's actually kind of ghost-like. You look at it from one angle and it's invisible; you look at it from another and it's totally visible. I like the effect alot.
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------------------
Eric - Usual Suspect
"The best toys are the ones that you can put an eye out with."
weaver.gif
 
Being the owner of the Commander that John mentions, I have to clear one thing up. I've never cleaned and gutted a deer with it. Only because the stupid deer wouldn't cooperate and give me a clean shot. although it has helped to dismember a hog
smile.gif
I have done a LOT with this knife, but at least I've never tried to pry a screw loose from a tire with mine...I understand that will nick the hell out of your blade. What is the line I'm thinking of? something like it is the most expensive pry bar you will ever own? Anyway, the Midway Metal Magic cloth is the thing. I've satined another Commander and I prefer the gun metal finish you get with the cloth.

-sarah

[This message has been edited by missmanytoes (edited 05-17-2001).]
 
May i say welcome missmanytoes? i think that we have our first female Usual Suspect??
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Definitely one of the few any way.

I hope that you'll hang around here, it tends to be a somewhat, eh...high testosterone level sometimes, nice if it could be leveled some...
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Just kiddin'! welcome from Sweden!!
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------------------
Be well!/Jonas aka 2Sharp

"Who want fulfillment? -denial lasts forever"
Total Emerson knives freak!!! Usual Suspect-got the t-shirt to prove it...
The coolest bar in the world: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/8373/index.html
My knives!
 
Hey Eric, thanks for the kinds words. I miss you guys. I've been trying to check in once in a while to see whats going on. Otherwise I'm usually traveling.

John, I would post a pic of my project Commander if I could find that darn knife. I think it's with all the paint brushes, or sitting on the bottom of a can of paint.
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by missmanytoes:
Being the owner of the Commander that John mentions, I have to clear one thing up. I've never cleaned and gutted a deer with it. Only because the stupid deer wouldn't cooperate and give me a clean shot. although it has helped to dismember a hog
smile.gif
I have done a LOT with this knife, but at least I've never tried to pry a screw loose from a tire with mine...I understand that will nick the hell out of your blade. What is the line I'm thinking of? something like it is the most expensive pry bar you will ever own? Anyway, the Midway Metal Magic cloth is the thing. I've satined another Commander and I prefer the gun metal finish you get with the cloth.

-sarah

[This message has been edited by missmanytoes (edited 05-17-2001).]</font>
Click to expand...

I want to wecome you too missmanytoes

Oh and one more thing, a gun girl, a knife girl AND an Emerson at that! I think Atfena's got competition!

So I'll just say, "Ahem you come here often? Have I seen you before? What's your sign? Hey your a sharp looking girl sharper than that Emerson in your pocket."
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Oh here is where I win some points: All those times I said "girl" I was mistaken. I meant "Woman"
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Just jokin with ya. If you hang out here more often you'll see us testosterony guys have a sense of humor. Somtimes dark but almost alway very funny, if not perverted
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So if I offend you......... I've done my job
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Welcome, though and be careful of that Hollister and his wicked lunch tactics

Ross T.


[This message has been edited by ROSANGHAL (edited 05-17-2001).]
 
John,
Cool finish. I think the Suspects should call it "The Ghost Finish" and patent it.
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Any idea if the teflon is still impregnating the steel and protecting it?

------------------
Brigadier
Beretta 92 FS nut and Wave-aholic
"And for this cause God shall send them stong delusion,that they should believe a lie;" 2 Thessalonians 2:11
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove[expose] them." Ephesians 5:11
 
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