Restoring Mirror Finish?

[Guyon]

I have a pretty nice Case trapper I got when I was a teenager. Unfortunately, I didn't take care of it, and it developed some light rust spots all over both blades. This was before I knew anything about Flitz, so I soaked it in WD-40 and then lightly steel-wooled it. The rust came off, but the finish was ruined. It was dull, and the steel wool left scratches up and down the blades.

I was looking at some of my older knives tonight, and I pulled out this Case. Decided to see what the Dremel would do. I used some Flitz and then used a polishing attachment. The results were pretty astounding. The knife has much of its original shine back. However, the polishing still left some very small lines in the finish.

I was wondering how the factory gets such a smooth mirror finish on their knives. Is there any way I can duplicate what they do at Case?

Also, what kind of steel does Case use?

 

[Charlie Mike]

I don't know what kind of steel Case uses... but I do know a bit about mirror polishing. I have put a mirror polish on a stonewash MT L-UDT (154CM), mirror polished a Kershaw Vapor II entirely (420 HC), and I've removed the BT from an Emerson Mach 1. What works for me is 600, 1200, and 1500 grit silicone carbide paper along with a lot of patience and perhaps a bandaid or two. The Kershaw was my most recent project and also the first one using Flitz. I spend too much $$$ on knives, cigarettes, and beer to buy a Dremel with the works