sand paper and rough stuff

Ken_McCarty

Ken_McCarty

Joined
Aug 30, 2001
Messages
358
what kind of sand paper and similar items are recomended generally? I made my first knife this week and I used 60 grit gator sand paper to try to get out a few gouges left by grinder and it didn't even touch them after 2 hours.

my knife next to a commander to show size.
myknife.JPG
 
Ken,

By grinder, did you mean a bench grinder with a stone?

2 hours? Must have been a really course stone, or you could have some gouges. 60 grit should go pretty quick tho. However, when there are gouges you have to sand until the flat areas are worn down to the lowest gouge.

Here's a suggestion. Use a HARD backing for the paper, like a file. Clamp the blade to a narrow board on the bench, then draw file with the paper.

If this is paper is not for metal, it might loose grit in a hurry. Go to the auto parts store and get some of the red stuff for metal finishing. Plan on going thru a few sheets. Over-using paper is a common mistake (I should know!) I've found that if it is going to take 3 sheets to do one side, then it's going to take 3 sheets. It doesn't matter how long I try to make the paper last.

Another thing is kind of metal is this? Has it been annealed?

------------------
To answer your question. I do whatever it takes to get the bevel flat. Then work it down with 220. After that go length wise with 320 until all the marks are out. Then one sheet of 600 per side (length wise), then 1/2 sheet per side of 1200. This is what Fowler (at least I think it was him) calls the easy hand rubbed finish.

I'm using a belt grinder more and more. The knife I'm working on right now I did this:

After heat treat.
Belt sand it out with A100 (Trizact)
Hand sand with 320 until all the marks are gone (have to return to A100 once in awhile)
Belt sand with A45
Belt sand with A30
Hand sand with 800 Removing all the marks
Hand sand with 1200 Using a rubber backing, only one pass before moving the paper.


Hope this helps,

Steve

PS Cool shape on the knife.
 
Ken,

One other tip. I didn't have a 2x72 grinder for awhile.

But I use to buy premium ceramic 2x72 belts and use those for hand sanding. They last forever. A $5 belt will outlasst $5 of sandpaper from the hardware store and because it cuts so fast it'll save you lots of time.

Steve
 
thanks for the advice Itrade. I will have to look into it. the grinder I was using was just a regular bench grinder. I'm pretty sure the gouges came from my being a little over anxious to cut down the ammount of metal there in a hurry. I'm pretty sure the sand paper I have says "multi-purpose" on it. but to put this in perspective, some of the gouges looked like nail-nicks on old time folders before I started sanding:eek:.

its really cheap weld steel from lowes. it was about 10$ for 3 1/2' x 3" x just over an 1/8" it took an edge(reluctantly) and is holding it fairly well without heat treat, so if you can get any info out of that?

thanks for the compliment too, it's a strange blade profile, I've jokingly refered to it lately as a "bow-tility":)
 
thanks for the info mike, saves me a few hours in front of hot stuff. I think I'll stick with it for a couple more knives though, it may not harden, but it makes a good learning aid;)
 
Mild steel makes good throwing knives! You have the correct handle also.
Good work, keep it up, Lynn
 
Ken,

Like Mike said you can't harden that steel (OK you could case harden, but that isn't any good for knives).

However, I used that same stuff to practice. I filed, sanded and even buffed to a mirror finish. It was great to use for that. Then I thru them away and bought some D2.

Steve
 
Lynn: I have used this one as a throwing knife and it works pretty good.

the second one I'm working on is turning out pretty decent. i still have a lot of work to do on it, but it should be done(well, as done as it can be) by this evening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top