Satin finish on the Becker blade

woody_allen

woody_allen

Joined
May 20, 2013
Messages
194
So here is the deal.

I hope I will be able to buy a BK9 soon,and I want to strip it, and make satin finish on it. Not mirror polish,just satin.
I read about it,but still have a few questions,and because it's about BK9,no better place to ask then here.

First of all, I don't have any tools for sanding,so whole job will be done by hand with sand papers.

1. Because finish on the Beckers are rough,with strong grind lines, what grit is recomendent to start sanding with?
2. Is it true that sanding must be done in same strokes,from handle to the tip ,and not just random sanding in any direction?
3. Some mention that when you done with 800 grit ,you go back to 600 grit to finish it,why is that ?

Lots of mods of Becker knives here,so I hope someone with expirience will help me with that. Please be free to add some advice,tips and tricks.
Thank you in advance.
 
When I stripped my BK2 I sanded it. ALL, no chemical. I would recommend using "Klean Strip" in the spray can.

The BK14 finish just pealed off and left a pretty nice satin finish. There are a lot of grind lines and the top edges were rough. I started with a file and squared up the top tang and around the handle. Then I attacked the grind lines starting with 320 grit wed dry sand paper on a sanding block. I followed the direction of the grind and knocked off the high spots as I progressed to 400 grit and finally 600 grit wet with denatured alcohol.

A tip I can give, when working towards the edges, only push the paper to the edge, don't pull into it or use circular motions. This will cause it to dish or round the edge taking away the crisp look.

All in all this project took a few hours of bench time to get it looking close. I think I got the final finish that I was looking for when the patina was done. Between "coats" of patina I'd steel wool and then scotch brite it back almost to bare metal. That really gave it the finish I wanted.



This is a pic of the Patina, mid way complete. Its darker now....
 
I hor the grind lines of my 17 with an alluminum sanding block and 220 grit. I could have used a lower grit but id rather take my time with 220 then to use it to clean up scratches from something like 120 or 80. If you want a satin finish i would take it up to 600 then drop back down to 400. That alwayse game me the best results. Or i suppose you could go grom 800 to 600 abd maybe a green scotchbrite pad.
 
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