Question on sanding and finishing blades and liners

draggat · Jul 15, 2012

Im not sure if this is the appropriate section, but I figure that most of the guys browsing these threads will probably be able to answer my question.

I have several production knives that I am trying to customize. Some of them have bead blasted hardened stainless liners and bead blasted blades. I would like to satin or stonewash finish the blades and mirror polish the liners (they're folders). Being that the steel is hardened and I don't want to damage the temper, I know that I can't heat the steel much. Is there a tool that I can use that will do this or am I stuck hand sanding? I briefly looked at some variable speed random orbit sanders but they don't seem to have the high grit sandpaper I need.

Is there any power tool I can get to speed things up? My arm is about to fall off from all the sanding! Also, is there a method to achieve a sort of stonewash effect by hand? If not, what is the best method to achieve a nice satin finish that will hide scratches from use? I don't want to send the blades somewhere for that type of finishing and I'm a bit limited on the equipment.... I can spend around $200 at the moment and want to get the most bang for my buck.

Thanks!

fast14riot · Jul 15, 2012

This might be better answered in the maintenance and tinkering forum, but I'll try to help you.

For the stone wash, take a large gatorade bottle or similarly tough plastic bottle with a large opening. You can buy ceramic vibratory tumbler media if you like, but coarse river stone of all similar size works and even a ceramic tile smashed up works. Take that stuff and fill the bottle with it enough to cover the side of it when laying over, then add some soapy water, maybe 1/2 to 1 cup (4-8oz). Throw the blade and any other pieces you want in there and screw the cap on tightly. Seal it securely with duct tape and then take a towel you don't care about and wrap the bottle with it and tape it on. Throw the whole thing in the dryer on the NO HEAT setting for 30 minutes to start, longer if the effect isn't to your liking. Remove and reassemble, then resharpen if needed.

For polishing the liners, a disc grinder works well to maybe 400# then its hand sanding after that as far as you want to go. I suggest 1000# by hand, then green chromate compound on a sewn buffing wheel. Should be pretty darn shiney after that. Hand sanding using windex to wet it works well.

HTH-

-Xander

Hengelo_77 · Jul 16, 2012

Just the liners you should be fine just hand sanding.
The finer the gritt the faster it goes. Gritt 1500 is nice and shiny, but after that it's just two more to 2500 and light work.
Having a good set up makes a difference.
Look up Nick Wheelers hand finishing WIP here. That should give you good imput.

kreole · Jul 16, 2012

You can skip a few steps on polishing the liners to mirror if you pick up a vibratory tumbler and run it with walnut shells and metal or car polish (Blue Magic, Turtle Wax, etc.). There is a good thread on it here: http://straightrazorplace.com/workshop/18075-new-idea-experimentation.html. The abridged story is if you go to maybe 800 grit by hand and then throw it in the tumbler for ~three days, it'll put a mirror finish on it. There are various recipes similar to that in the given thread.

Here is a BM AFCK I have. I threw it in with walnut shells and Blue Magic polish into a $30 vibrating tumbler because they developed rust spots in part because of the rough finish. I didn't sand them at all, and as a result you can see the satin marks still slightly, but you can quite clearly see the drilled holes from the upper liner reflected in the bottom liner. With a little sanding, it would have been a true mirror finish.

draggat · Jul 19, 2012

kreole said:
You can skip a few steps on polishing the liners to mirror if you pick up a vibratory tumbler and run it with walnut shells and metal or car polish (Blue Magic, Turtle Wax, etc.). There is a good thread on it here: http://straightrazorplace.com/workshop/18075-new-idea-experimentation.html. The abridged story is if you go to maybe 800 grit by hand and then throw it in the tumbler for ~three days, it'll put a mirror finish on it. There are various recipes similar to that in the given thread.

Here is a BM AFCK I have. I threw it in with walnut shells and Blue Magic polish into a $30 vibrating tumbler because they developed rust spots in part because of the rough finish. I didn't sand them at all, and as a result you can see the satin marks still slightly, but you can quite clearly see the drilled holes from the upper liner reflected in the bottom liner. With a little sanding, it would have been a true mirror finish.

Awesome! Thanks for this bit!! I originally started the liners due to minor rust spots.

Broomhead · Jul 19, 2012

fast14riot said:
For the stone wash, take a large gatorade bottle or similarly tough plastic bottle with a large opening. You can buy ceramic vibratory tumbler media if you like, but coarse river stone of all similar size works and even a ceramic tile smashed up works. Take that stuff and fill the bottle with it enough to cover the side of it when laying over, then add some soapy water, maybe 1/2 to 1 cup (4-8oz). Throw the blade and any other pieces you want in there and screw the cap on tightly. Seal it securely with duct tape and then take a towel you don't care about and wrap the bottle with it and tape it on. Throw the whole thing in the dryer on the NO HEAT setting for 30 minutes to start, longer if the effect isn't to your liking. Remove and reassemble, then resharpen if needed.

-Xander

I've been looking for a DIY fix for doing this. This looks right up my alley, provided my wife doesn't find out how I used the dryer...and nothing spills out. Thanks for the tip.

Rockin' P smithing · Jul 19, 2012

To make my blades shine I use emry cloth. It's like metal sand paper.

fast14riot · Jul 19, 2012

Broomhead said:
I've been looking for a DIY fix for doing this. This looks right up my alley, provided my wife doesn't find out how I used the dryer...and nothing spills out. Thanks for the tip.

The big deal with doing this method is many people say to use WD-40 or a light oil in with the media, but then your putting a closed container with flamable liquid into a tumbling hot dryer, best case scenario is it leaks and you have to answer why all the clothes have oil stains, worst case: it burns the house down. Just use a soapy water, and try to sift out any real small pices of home made media to make potential clean up easier. Wrapping the container in a towel helps and also throw in some other heavy items, dog bed, car wash towels, etc. It will keep the noise down and SWMBO will never have a complaint. (Well we all know there is always something they complain about

).

-Xander

dperk · Jul 19, 2012

If you look to polish the pieces in a vibratory tumbler, you can use the 'nut' shells to start off, and if you want more shine switch to corn cob media. It's a bit softer and will polish a bit more. You can get both of these at any shooting supply/reloading shop. You can also get the corncob media at any good pet store as cage liner for things like hamsters.

fast14riot · Jul 19, 2012

dperk said:
If you look to polish the pieces in a vibratory tumbler, you can use the 'nut' shells to start off, and if you want more shine switch to corn cob media. It's a bit softer and will polish a bit more. You can get both of these at any shooting supply/reloading shop. You can also get the corncob media at any good pet store as cage liner for things like hamsters.

I'm a shooter and handloader, as well as a manager of a pet store, I sell both walnut and corn cob at my store. Much cheaper than buying lyman media, but also much larger quantity. You'll find it in the bird section of your local pet store or feed supply. Flitz metal polish and walnut shell is a great combo in a vibratory tumbler, especially for cleaning up old blades.

-Xander

draggat · Jul 19, 2012

Have any of you tried putting a bead blasted blade or liners into a vibratory tumbler without sanding first? Would it resurface the steel much, or should it be rough sanded first? I'm nervous about putting a blade into the dryer. I can imagine the fallout if it leaked... Also, is it really hard on the blade, as in is it expected that the tip will chip off?

Thanks for all the great info!

fast14riot · Jul 19, 2012

Nah, it ain't rough on a blade at all. You may have to resharpen with a touch up, but were talking a plastic bottle, 1/4-1/2" pieces of stone or tile and some soapy water. Tape up the lid, and wrap in a towel and tape that up. If it leaks, you have soapy rocks to scoop out at the worst, no big deal. If the tip of the blade snaps off under its own weight/inertia inside a plastic bottle, you didn't want that knife anyways.

People make a big stink about possible leaks and spillage, but if you throw some other item in the dryer it greatly reduces stress on the package with providing cushion against slamming around the sides of the drum. As long as the media tumbles around inside and the blade does to, its working. You can stand there and shake it for 30-45 minutes by hand, but I doubt many of us have that kind of stamina.

A vibratory tumbler is designed for this, but a good one with large enough volume for knives is expensive and the proper media for stone washing is expensive as well. If you are looking to experiment with the finish, the method I describe is almost free. Head over to the maintenance and tinkering sub forum and search for home stone washed knives, you'll find a ton done with less safe methods. It isn't that big of an issue, really.

-Xander