restoring mirror finish

Jaiofspam

Jaiofspam

Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
3,311
hello all,
i have villagerized a few of my khukuris... :)
just out of curiosity how would one restore the mirror finish now?
common sense tells me to take it to the buffing wheel with some compound...
but what should i start out with? tripoli then jewelers rouge? :confused:

also, are there any methods to do this by hand? :p
not sure if i am ready to tackle the buffer yet :rolleyes:

thanks in advance,
jimmy
 
You can get pretty close with progressively finer grits of wet-dry paper followed by Flitz or some other metal polish on a rag and a phenomenal amount of elbow grease, but it won't ever, at least in my experience, get back to mirror finish. I think you need a buffer for that.
 
:( i miss the magic mirror finish...
guess i will have to fire up the buffer when i have time :foot:

anybody else have tips on hand polishing?
what grits what methods and what not... :confused:
 
Josh laid it out for you pretty well.

***** Caution *****

The buffer is the most dangerous tool in any shop. Do a search and read what the real makers say of buffers. I can save you some time and tell you they hate, and respect them with a mortal kinda fear. I do too, and have had one grab something a shoot it back at me like lightning. Lucky for me it wasn't a blade but a small square block of aluminum. I had the biggest black and blue bruise of my life for months.

**********************************

Here is what I do when I get the desire for a mirrored khuk. I go outside and chop something with the khuk in question. Then I look at the blade, all stained and scratched, and I think, "Why the hell would I want a mirror finish on this brute?" Then I just clean the blade up and feel satisfied.
 
Hopefully Archangel will stop by on this one..he uses machinery like this in his work IIRC and has put amazing mirror finishes on his khuks.

You might try emailing him--he knows his stuff and is a hellava nice guy to boot.
 
Andy touched upon the main thing- working khuks can't take the time to have a mirror finish. A satin finish clean up suits them just fine. A mirror finish is for a wall hanger. It makes no sense to be constantly re-applying a finish to a tool. The satin finish is different. It's applied easy with 400 to 1000 grit sandpaper and keeps the tool clean and looking good.

>>>>>>>>>

Charles Bukowski once wrote something to the effect that you can't trust a man whose toilet is so clean you could eat off it, and to that I'll add a working kukri with a mirror finish.


munk
 
lol understood.... there is one thing i did that bothered me though
i satin finished the brass :( i think i will buff that out shiny agian though.
 
This has been a classic re-thread of a staple topic, but if you really want to delve into refinement, Jaiofspam, consider the noble cho.
We have persons in this place who polish their chos.
Shocking as that may be.
In a world gone mad and doomed to self destruction, they polish their chos.



munk
 
The brass is going to age and darken whether shined or not. I keep mine brushed with scotchbrite pads, or I let it age.
 
Seriously, with enough sweat, patience (!), and a set of increasingly fine abrasives right up to the infinitesimal, I expect you can re-create the sheen. That's essentially how it was done at the outset. God help you if a piece of bigger grit makes its way onto the blade un-noticed once you've worked your way to the really fine stuff...

But once you've gone to all the work, you really think you can resist the siren call and not go whack something again? Most of us here have HIKV; mine's a variant that focuses on chopping stuff up, rather than collecting and ogling. If you can keep your mitts off that shiny khuk when a target beckons either you're stronger than me, or we've got slightly different diseases.

... which is why my knives are satin finished, including their furniture.
 
It could happen in a home near you at any time.
I once wrote a thread asking how many and/or who polished/cleaned/reground their chos. A lot of folks stepped forward in confession. It was really a hoot.

...but you never know; that guy standing next to you may be one of those who polish their chos.



munk
 
i satin finished the brass and blade with a scrotchbrite pad... it looks beautiful still... but i am an ogler at the moment not a user :D i miss the shine :(

i may go to the hardware store to pick up some fine grits of sandpaper...
any recommendations of what grits? 1000? 2000? :confused:
 
Go to an automotive supply place, and get the desperately fine stuff they use to polish out auto body repairs. Even 1000 grit is pretty big stuff, compared to the micron sized particles in those papers.

I'm told that if the abrasives are bonded to mylar backings instead of paper, it's more durable ... but I've never tried it.

t.
 
Tom steered you right. An auto store will have grits Home Despot doesn't dream of having. Get the wet dry stuff. Do some searches too, because in all honesty, I've never repolished one of these blades, and even on the knives I make, I like it rough. BRKT doesn't mirror their blades either, so I'm not alone on this. Users and a high polish just don't go too good together IMO.
 
i villagerized a 10" kumar karda with antler handle... i realized its to beautiful to be a user :foot:
this is the blade i wish to restore :D i also satin finished an 18" panawal ak from gurkha house... my user :)
 
Jai? Start with the grit of sandpaper that most clearly matches the marks currently on your blade and work your way up from there. Your auto parts store should have everything up to #2000, which will be close to mirror.

After that it gets tricky. Lee Valley stocks microfinishing films that go all the way to 0.5 micron (~#30000 grit, or the same as chromium oxide paste) that's bonded to mylar as Tom said; it looks and feels like plastic that drags just slightly more on one side than the other and they don't tell you which side has the abrasives on it. :o

You can get to a mirror finish, or one near enough to count, without power tools; the Japanese have been doing it for several hundred years with stones and burnishing needles and you'll have access to better stuff than that, but don't expect it to be quick or easy unless you're using a buffer.

The earlier buffer advice is spot-on -- this is the most dangerous tool you'll find in the average garage. I refuse to own one. It's humbling and scary to watch an expert using one and it's almost getting them. I won't tell you not to get one but if you do, consider spending at least a few hours practicing on smooth and dull objects that won't spear your feet to the floor if they get thrown back at you.

If you want to try it by hand without power tools, here's an excellent guide to the Hybrid Polish. This will take some time but won't cost much, won't hurt or break anything, and may reveal the hamon.
 
Dave Rishar said:
After that it gets tricky. Lee Valley stocks microfinishing films that go all the way to 0.5 micron (~#30000 grit, or the same as chromium oxide paste) that's bonded to mylar as Tom said; it looks and feels like plastic that drags just slightly more on one side than the other and they don't tell you which side has the abrasives on it. :o
Click to expand...

there is a method described to polish the bottom of a soda can using the mylar from a candy bar, and a bit of left over chocolate material as the polish. all items you could readily find on the side of the road or in the trash...

why?

so you can make a mirror, to signal with, or potentially start a fire (concave surface dontchaknow). ah, those wacky survivalists. then again, if you are that stuck for fire or shiny mirrors, you probably have a LOT of time on your hands ;)

bladite
 
ive actually polished the bottom of an arizona tea can.... took me forever
and coworkers thought i had lost my mind :D
 
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