Sand Blasted Finish

crocogator106 · Oct 28, 2014

I was looking at YouTube and saw a video of a guy who, instead of hand sanding blades to finish, uses a sand blaster to give the blade a textured or almost stonewashed finished. The video quality was very poor and I really couldn't see the results. Has anyone else tried this. I really like the idea and really like the stonewashed or textured finish. I thought of ordering some stuff from HF and making a small sand blasting cabinet. Any advice on how this looks or if anyone else has tried it.

Shaw Blades · Oct 29, 2014

I'm new to sandblasting but I had pretty good results with aluminum oxide abrasive.

This one in particular (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...6724?cm_mmc=Housefile-_-RECEIVED-_-707-_-CONF)

A lot of people use garnet also

Bob Ohlemann · Oct 29, 2014

This comes up frequently but, I've yet to see a definitive thread on it. I can tell you from experience that silicon carbide etches too deep and glass bead does almost nothing on a hardened steel blade. So, aluminum oxide is probably a good choice to start with. A stonewashed finish comes from running the blades through a tumbler and it is a completely different finish than you will get from blasting. All of these finishes are something you will have to experiment with to find what you like.

Bob

crocogator106 · Oct 29, 2014

Thanks guys!

Jason Fry · Oct 29, 2014

I know of at least one maker, Keith Murr, who does a sand blasted then buffed finish that looks good. It must be tricky, however, as he was a bit secretive when I asked him about it. Hard to tell from the pics on his website, but this one seems to be the finish I saw.

crocogator106 · Oct 29, 2014

Jason Fry said:
I know of at least one maker, Keith Murr, who does a sand blasted then buffed finish that looks good. It must be tricky, however, as he was a bit secretive when I asked him about it. Hard to tell from the pics on his website, but this one seems to be the finish I saw.

I really like the satin finish on a knife. I'm not a big fan of the highly polished or mirror finish and just thought someone else might save me a few steps and $ in the process. I'll get some steel together and different types of media and experiment and see what comes out best for what I like. Thanks

tim37a · Oct 29, 2014

I have been sand blasting all my hunters and tried some kitchen knives. Glass beads won't touch HT'd S35VN. The blasting will cover 440 grit scratches. You can get a combo grit/beads media from Grainger which works very well. I'm going to take my next knife to 600 grit, blast it, and then try a coarse 3M belt. I'm looking for a smooth, matt finish.
Tim

Kloepper Knife Works · Oct 29, 2014

I do sandblasted finishes. I use 80 grit aluminum oxide and then go over it by hand with 400+ to smooth it out but leave it matte.

LARRYZ10 · Oct 30, 2014

Crocogator, You may want to try a high polish finish so the blade is smooth and the grind is even and then go back to satin finish by a combination of super fine paper and scotchbrite belt. I sometimes do a high polish and leave the flat above the grind and the ricasso polished but go back to 600 grit on the hollow grind for contrast. I think it looks good. I don't have a photo though. Sorry. Larry