Rubbing lines

L

Longstrider

Joined
May 18, 2005
Messages
230
Ok guys, how do you decide what direction to have the "lines" run when you are leaving something with a satin finish instead of going all the way to mirror finish ? I've been shaping up some brass to use as bolsters on a fixed blade and wanted to leave them with a 1200 grit finish but theres no way I can get the lines to "work". If I line them up with the grind on the back of the full tang of the blade (lengthwise) they look good from the edge and they look good on the flats, but the bit at right angles to the blade and the corners look awful because I always end up with lines at right angles to each other there.
Is doesn't matter which way I try to finish them off, the "grind lines" always end up at right angles to each other somewhere on the brass and look bad.
How can I overcome this ?
 
0000 wire wool :D
I found the same thing when finishing brass guards with 1200grit silicon carbide paper, but wire wool is much better. It is less agressive and conforms to the work. I also find that it looks better if I polish around the circumference of the guard/grip, rather than in line with the blade.
 
What's all this? Did I stumble into the "Old Blighty" forum by mistake?:D I have been spending twoweeks inSeptember outside of Dover for the last couple of years. You guys ought to introduce me to the knifemaking lunatics in England this summer. Myfamily stays on Lord Guilford's farm. He is a closet redneck and a certified custom knife nut, so we get on wel....lol. I usually take my nickel silver down to 1000 and i also have the lines run around the circumference of the guard or buttcap. The finish ends up lookig a bit like stainless. Brass kinda begs to be buffed to a high shine. If you are doing it by hand maybe you can use the old army belt buckle method. Take it down as far as your can with paper and wool and then polish the hell out of it with Brasso, which is slightly abrasive and then finish it off with a 2 sided jeweler's rouge cloth. Most brass items that you buy are laquered after they are finished. It keps them from tarnishing quickly, but it darkens the finish. We use to spend a fair amount of time stripping the laquer from our belt buckles with Brasso or Noxon so they would shine up bright.
 
Did I stumble into the "Old Blighty" forum by mistake?
Click to expand...
More like a couple of Limies stumbled into this here Colonial forum :D Although, in my case, the stumbling happend some time ago;)

If you want to meet up with knife folk in the UK you might have a look at www.britishblades.com. There is bound to be a suitable lunatic or two near where-ever you stay when in the UK.:D
 
I had another look at it this afternoon and I've decided that nothing will do the job better than putting a proper polish on it, so polished it will be. ;)
 
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