Refinishing my Basic 9

FrankieCrabs

FrankieCrabs

Joined
Nov 28, 2000
Messages
524
I've decided to refinish my Basic 9 w/the smooth coat blade. I liked the satin finish on my ZT Satin Jack so much, I thought I'd polish up a user knife a bit [for the moment the ZT is a safe queen]. I used paint stripper to remove the finish, and it did a great job. The coating came off in almost one strip, and the blade looks rather pretty as it is, but...

Not owning a polishing wheel, I'll be working by hand. I'll probably start with something in the 180-320x range, then work up to about 1200x or so to finish. On the other hand, I might just leave it as it is for now, but probably not.

Has anyone else tried to hand finish their Busses? If so, how did it turn out? When I get a chance, I'll post some photos.
 
Definitely post the pics, love to see how your project turns out. I have thought about doing the same multiple times, just didn't have the courage !
 
Well, I figure that anything I do isn't going to damage the blade temper, so I won't be voiding the warranty. If I dull the edge during the sanding, and can't bring it back nice and sharp, I'll just send it home to Papa, and he'll sharpen it up good as new.

BTW- I was going to sand the blade lengthwise, but would it be better to do it across the blade? Might that look better? It seems that the finish on the ZT SJ runs across the blade, but I figured that was just because a wheel was probably used to finish it.
 
I've never refinished one of my Busses but I did High Polish a Bead Blast Microtech I had once. What a pain that was. I learned a few lessons in the process, I'll try to remember them so you don't do the same.

1) I started with 600 grit, that was too high (of course the BB finish was a pain to do though) If you start in the 200 range you should have no problem.

2) Go lengthwise and don't change up. I changed directions and I ended up with some fairly bad scratches that it took me forever to remove.

3) Tape the edge(I learned the hard way with a couple of real bad cuts)

4) Be patient and don't try to rush it. I jumped up to the next grit too fast and ended up having to go back down

If I think of some more I'll post them later.

Let us know how it looks and take plenty of pics.

BTW, here is what mine ended up looking like( I know it's the Busse forum, but if it makes it any better I later sold it to buy more Busses :D:D )

Here's the before
 
Original smooth coating, v-ground side:

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Convex side w/stripped coating:

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Close up of the blade finish under the black coating, actually rather good looking itself:

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After using medium emery cloth:

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After using fine emery cloth:

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After using 800x & 1200x papers, and some Metal Glo polish:

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The results so far, on the convex side [note the subtle product placement]:

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I started with a med. grit emery paper, then went to a fine. From there, I worked through 800, 1200 and started with some 1500 grit papers, but cut short using the 1500, and used the Metal Glo polish instead. Might it come out better if I used more intermediate grits of paper? Of course, this is supposed to be my user Basic, so a pristine finish isn't necessary, and it'll be scratched up during my first attempt at sharpening, anyway.

I worked lengthwise, and didn't change direction- I knew about the hazards of that. I didn't tape the edge, but was using some padding under the sandpaper, so I wasn't too worried. How do you tape up such a narrow space, anyway?

You said be patient. I spent about, maybe, 10-15 minutes on each grit that I used, I wasn't quite sure how much time was needed- the finish isn't bad, but could be a bit more consistent. It seems to be shinier towards the center of the blade, not so nice towards the edges. I wouldn't mind starting over [alright, I would mind it, but I might do it] if I could get a more consistent finish on the blade. I could try implementing some sugggestions on the v-ground side of the blade- I haven't done that side yet, maybe tomorrow or somtime next week. Or, I could leave it the way it is, and have a Maaco knife- you know what I'm saying. Also, I have some .5 micron SiC paper- should I perhaps go from the 1200 to the 1500 to the Metal Glo to the SiC? From the SiC to the Metal Glo? The finest grit paper I believe I can get around here is the 1500x.

BTW- You did a good job on the MT- very pretty. I suppose you disassembled the knife to polish the blade? [Sorry if that sounds ignorant, but I can imagine someone trying to work on the blade while it's attached to the handle.]
 
Originally posted by thatmguy
How long did that take you??
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About 90 min. of sanding, including time spent taking photos. For stripping the blade, a few minutes to apply the paint stripper, then I let it sit for an hour or so, and used a putty knife to remove the coating. It came off in more or less one piece per side. I'll post the name of the stuff I used later, it worked very well.
 
Damn it Frankie! Now you have me thinking about my SH.

Satin finish, stag slabs...hmmmmmm...:rolleyes:
 
Let us know what type of striper you used. I'll give her a call and let her do my Killer B :D :cool: :D
 
Frankie....I think ,from the pictures ,it looks like a great job!MMM...I wonder how my SJCG would look with a buffed finish??:rolleyes:
 
Frankie
It looks great.

My suggestion to be patient probably comes from the fact that I wasn't, I jumped up the grits too fast and it caused some problems. I ended up having to drop back down from 1200 to about 400 in one spot because it looked screwy.

Yes, I took the MT apart to polish it and I went up to 2000 only because I wanted it High Polished. If you are going to be using the #9 I would stop where you are. HP shows the scratches very easily and quickly.

You must work fast because I spent about 6 hours on mine. :D:D
 
Looks great! I was thinking of trying this, and this post has convinced me. I'd like to see a pic of the whole blade, to see the effect from farther away.

Do you think the paint remover would work on the crinkle coat?
 
Originally posted by Andrew Lynch
Looks great! I was thinking of trying this, and this post has convinced me. I'd like to see a pic of the whole blade, to see the effect from farther away.

Do you think the paint remover would work on the crinkle coat?
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I'm certain the remover would work on the crinkle coat- just put it on thick and let it sit for a while. I left the remover on for an hour, but I don't know if it really needed that much time- I just busied myself with other things while it worked.

ERIC:

I just picked up some more sandpaper for the other side. This time, I'll be working through med. and fine emery, then 320x, 400, 600, 800, and 1200x papers, and finish with the Metal Glo polish. If it seems to look better than the convex side, I might redo it a bit.

I wanted to copy the finish on my ZT Satin Jack, but stopping at, let's say, 600 or 800x just didn't look good- the scratches on the blade were still to noticeable. Were the ZT knives hand finished, or done with a wheel? Anybody? How can the blade be left at, say, the 600 or 800x without it looking unfinished?

Frank
 
Originally posted by FrankieCrabs
Were the ZT knives hand finished, or done with a wheel? Anybody? How can the blade be left at, say, the 600 or 800x without it looking unfinished?

Frank
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Do you mean a buffing wheel? If so, can you mount one of these on a regular bench grinder? That might be a good option for those of us who have a BG. I also might get a small sander, which should be helpful.

I imagine that if the tiny scratches where very consistent in angle, a knife would look very good even at, say, 800 grit. That's just a guess though :D
 
Originally posted by Andrew Lynch
Looks great! I was thinking of trying this, and this post has convinced me. I'd like to see a pic of the whole blade, to see the effect from farther away.
Click to expand...

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