Satin Finish - How to

Father & Son Traditional Sharpening

Father & Son Traditional Sharpening

Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
6,973
So I plan on stripping the coating off a couple knives and give them a hand applied satin finish.....

Can anybody provide me with links or info on how I should going about doing this by hand with sandpaper or other abrasive tools? I know there are a bunch of different ways to accomplish this in the knife world, but is there some sort of 'accepted' standard or techniques that are the best/preferred?
 
100_8757.jpg
 
Last edited:
God it "took"-- 4th try and all the writing gone, and not the first time this has happened here. I've spent an hour trying to post explanations and pixes "don't have permission" (I do obviously) "Not logged in" (I was) "refresh" I did. I flatsand-- it's very time comsuming and pretty exacting but if you like what you see, I'll try to find time later to walk you thru it.
 
Last edited:
One question: how did you keep the upper edge so crisp from the sanded satin area to the BK1 coating? Masking tape?
 
The little nick on the spine was there when I bot the knife:

100_8711_zps1c267bb8.jpg


I'm going to do this in stages as I'm not willing to risk organizing e'thing and then having it disappear, as it did yest'y.

In answer to the above question no, no tape. Just careful sanding, and that's the whole point. Crisp edges are the bugger, in this kind of work. You have 2 intersecting planes here (actually the main grind plane has a mild curve as it approached the tip, pls visualize) and you need to follow them.

These questions come up often and I just don't have time to respond repeatedly so I'm going to do a photo dump here over the next day or 2, then call it quits. Photos not seen for some time, and never here. It's EZ to alter these blades-- the question is what do they look like when you're finished? Workmanshipwise? I'll show other objectives accomplished beyond merely removing coatings, and will share what I've learned from many hundreds of hours spent doing this kind of work.

When I see this reply up successfully I'll follow w/ a more expansive one later this AM.
 
On second thought not that expansive as this is after all a thread about satin finishing, but here's work that will help visualizing planes, bending planes, differential sanding pressures and the like. Here's one of my knives:

100_6862-1.jpg


BM 523 tanto, but not anymore. Here's the work that was done (never to my complete satisfaction):

100_6371-1.jpg

100_6876.jpg


100_6389-2.jpg

100_6898-1.jpg


One side a little cleaner than the other, huh. No excuse for that. They should both be clean.

The orange one finished to either 1000 or 1500 (forget) as I wanted to retain some sparkle, which slowly fades as you go higher and higher. 523 finished to 3000, as I gen'y do.

I'll add a bunch of text later today, discussing flatsanding technique.
 
I just lost nearly another hours' work, I don't have time for this. If this one takes IDK why the last one (a long discourse on technique) didn't. It cycles over and over "you do not have permission to enter. pls login and try again". I'm logged in the whole time. I'll return to answer questions, if there are any.
 
Why don't you write your tutorial in Microsoft word and then just copy and paste when you are done? That way even if the post doesn't work you just paste it again.


Looks like you are doing nice work! I like that blade far better non tantoed for sure.
 
Dang, never thought of that, thanks! Better w/ knives than computers. Haven't used Word forever, I'll have to dust it off.

Tanto conversion to a spearpoint is fun work for me. My first was a 583-1 Warn tanto, now one of my favorite knives. Liners also skeletonized to compensate for weight loss up front it's now light, and balances perfectly, w/ just enuf weight-forward feel (assist also removed):

100_3259.jpg
 
ryxlyx said:
The little nick on the spine was there when I bot the knife:

100_8711_zps1c267bb8.jpg

.
Click to expand...

I would mind doing that to my M4 Ritter. I have to patience and the hands for it, just not to keen on trying the first time with a limited M4 without knowing exactly how. I've hand polished slot of things down to 2500-3000 then 15k-30k polish. The edge worries me the most when thinking about.

You know a brief video would be awesome if you ever have the time. Plus you wouldn't lose the text responses!
 
A video is unfortunately out of the question but yeah, that would be nice. I have so many undone projects knives guns you name it, I'll never catch up. But I'd be happy to help you when I can.

If you can add "focus" to patience and hands you are GTG. Practice does help approach perfection tho (but I'll never get there). Basically e'thing I know I've learned by trial and error. It blows my mind tho that even now, every project I do goes just a little more efficiently than the last.

THE EDGE WORRIES ME THE MOST-- lemme put your mind at ease. You WILL destroy it w/o ever touching it, and there's nothing you can do about it. Period.

I sand on glass cuz it's flat and hard. S'paper tho, under the microscope, is just a big, fat, thick, comfy mattress-- upon which the abrasive grains are affixed. As it escapes from under the steel as you sand it bulges/floats/rebounds back up, and that curve of release slowing surely softens your crisp intersections, and your edge. I'm reprofiling a butter knife most of the time on my knives, when I'm thru. Dawns on me why one side crisper than the other on the 523-- one side just sanded longer, likely (don't remember offhand) cuz there was a mild depression that needed to be removed. Probly less than a mil deep but it akes time to get to the bottom of the deepest hole, which is where you take things if you want a perfect controlled plane.

If you want to try anyway buy a cheapo, do it, then resell your cheapo. If you feel comfy then about your M4, do it. I've done 2/3 coated M4s. I'll find a photo.
 
Well I learned something. Got caught in that vicious cycle again no permission etc (WTH?????????????). Finally hit "go advanced" for no particular reason which transferred me to a new format. Hit "submit" cuz WHY NOT-- it posted. There's gotta be better software than THIS for God's sake....
 
A couple feet of plastic wrap. You don't have to do this but you end up w/ a slurry of liquid abrasive everywhere. It still seeps in anyway. If it's a long project I'll wrap painters tape over the that. I end up taking e'thing apart anyway for cleaning when I'm thru, but this also keeps that abrasive slurry from slowly wearing coatings off screwheads etcetc, which it slowly would as I handle the knife as I'm working. This is messier work than most might think. A little thick spit on the wet paper helps immensely by making the surface slipperier for easier sliding but that sticky slurry gets e'where. I wash the blade (and often the paper itself) hundreds and hundreds of times as I'm working-- not cuz I'm a CleanFreak, but cuz a single piece of 320 grit that falls off my wrist as I scratch my nose for example, lands on the work, then gets crushed when I pass over it while working say 1500 grit does great, great, damage.
 
I wasn't talking about the knife edge. I was talking about the edge from the polished area to the bk1 coating. I have stippled many Glocks with various patterns...the good stuff. Not some of the butcher jobs you see.
Anyway, the patience is there and I know I could do it. I just like to have it worked out in my head first.
So when you are sanding toward the upper edge of the grind (right at the intersection of the coating you intend to leave) are you using a flat tool wrapped in sand paper or are you sand it on the flat glass with sand paper letting the grind angle guide you?
 
Excellent!! You are GTG bud, and w/ a few tips along the way to help you avoid (quite a few unfortunately) common rookie mistakes (every one of which I've obviously made, then learned from) yours will look just like mine. This is not difficult, given TOTAL concentration.

Glass on the table. First, how to strip the paper. If the long way is N/S, you cut E/W. N/S strips you're running back/forth across the curl-- you're destined to fail. Paper o'hangs glass a few mils only. I am pressing the blade down w/ my thumb as I hold the knife w/ ALL the weight/strength I can muster cuz it cuts leagues faster, and to assure full plane contact, ALWAYS. Tip it off even a fraction for even one stroke w/ ALL that force on say your precious edge? W/ fresh 320, you've destroyed it. One... careless... stroke. I usually work 15/20 minute furious concentrated sessions-- the moment your mind slips-- WALK AWAY. I'll do some sanding as if I were handsharpening, drawing the knife off the paper as I "fillet" it.

Grind angle is guiding me (on this project anyway), I'm just going to the bottom of the deepest hole. Rear of the blade concentrated on first, as you'll likely uncover a mild concavity there. Tiny little strokes w/ pressure directed rearward or you will end up taking the center of the blade WAY too deep if you don't, it's a long way down, in the back. Tip a bugger, VERY EZ to tip there and destroy the plane AND the looks, very obvious-- your plane is actually curves toward the tip as you'll discover-- I don't let coarse paper anywhere near it. Occ. you'll discover grind irregularies ther, can be quite tricky. Longitudinal sanding, which translates to fore/back from your perspective, quickens things. You need to totally understand these blade geometries in a way that you've never considered them before. Then you're ready.

Those are your basic basics.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top