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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Satin Finish
- Thread starter AndrewT
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 23, 1999
- Messages
- 3,831
You can learn right here!
You'll need some wet/dry sandpaper and some kind of lubricant (I use baby oil, you can use any kind of oil or water even). Start with a piece of 600 grit paper. ALWAYS back the paper with something. When sanding flats, back it with some hard wood (I use a block of micarta!). If sanding hollows, try soaking a popsicle stick in water for a while and forming it to the hollow, then using it as th ebacking. You'd wet it, clamp it to the hollow grind, and leave it until the stick dries.
So, with 600 grit paper do some sanding strokes and then check the bead blast. This is kind-of a test to see what grit you really need. If there are obvious machining marks or deeper scratches that the 600 grit paper isn't touching, then you'll have to go down a few grits. WARNING: sanding metal takes a while; sanding hardened steel takes a loooong while! Patience
You'll want to step up through grits- don't jump steps. If the 600 grit is fine, don't rub back and forth or you'll get swirlies (swirl scratches caused when you change directions). Go in one direction only. If you had to go down to rougher grits, say 220 or whatever, then you can go back and forth. from 400 on you want to go one direction only. Change paper often. Sand paper is cheap. Sanding with a half-worn piece doesn't do a whole lot. Once you get to the grit level you desire, say an 800 grit finish, you want to make sure the "lines" caused by the sanding are all lined up for that sweet satin finish. To do that, you want several squares of paper. Assuming you're sanding the primary vevels, you'd start the square at the ricasso and pull it straight to the tip. Then throw away that square and use another one. Repeat this until you get the finish just right, AND THEN STOP. Don't get carried away at this step! If you haev a clean 800 grit finish, it won't take many squares at all to get things perfect. TADA! You are done
One alternative is to get a clean 600 or 800 grit finish and then doing the finish work with a fine scotch brite pad. These are synthetic pads with grit adhered to them, a kind of synthetic steel wool. A hand done sotch brite finish is quite nice. I finish a lot of the knvies I make at 320 grit and then "polished" with a scotch brite pad. Makes for a clean looking, not too shiny, easily touched up finish.
Good luck!
(P.S., Wade, I hope you see this! You still have some compoudn comign your way soon pal)
You'll need some wet/dry sandpaper and some kind of lubricant (I use baby oil, you can use any kind of oil or water even). Start with a piece of 600 grit paper. ALWAYS back the paper with something. When sanding flats, back it with some hard wood (I use a block of micarta!). If sanding hollows, try soaking a popsicle stick in water for a while and forming it to the hollow, then using it as th ebacking. You'd wet it, clamp it to the hollow grind, and leave it until the stick dries.
So, with 600 grit paper do some sanding strokes and then check the bead blast. This is kind-of a test to see what grit you really need. If there are obvious machining marks or deeper scratches that the 600 grit paper isn't touching, then you'll have to go down a few grits. WARNING: sanding metal takes a while; sanding hardened steel takes a loooong while! Patience
You'll want to step up through grits- don't jump steps. If the 600 grit is fine, don't rub back and forth or you'll get swirlies (swirl scratches caused when you change directions). Go in one direction only. If you had to go down to rougher grits, say 220 or whatever, then you can go back and forth. from 400 on you want to go one direction only. Change paper often. Sand paper is cheap. Sanding with a half-worn piece doesn't do a whole lot. Once you get to the grit level you desire, say an 800 grit finish, you want to make sure the "lines" caused by the sanding are all lined up for that sweet satin finish. To do that, you want several squares of paper. Assuming you're sanding the primary vevels, you'd start the square at the ricasso and pull it straight to the tip. Then throw away that square and use another one. Repeat this until you get the finish just right, AND THEN STOP. Don't get carried away at this step! If you haev a clean 800 grit finish, it won't take many squares at all to get things perfect. TADA! You are done One alternative is to get a clean 600 or 800 grit finish and then doing the finish work with a fine scotch brite pad. These are synthetic pads with grit adhered to them, a kind of synthetic steel wool. A hand done sotch brite finish is quite nice. I finish a lot of the knvies I make at 320 grit and then "polished" with a scotch brite pad. Makes for a clean looking, not too shiny, easily touched up finish.
Good luck!
(P.S., Wade, I hope you see this! You still have some compoudn comign your way soon pal)
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
- Messages
- 1,617
I have polished a few bead blasted blades.
I recently did it to a cold steel peace keeper dagger. When polishing hollow ground blades, for a sanding block,I use a thick piece of leather,(about 3/8"), that has been soaked in the same oil I use on the wet dry sand paper. Keeping it in oil makes it softer and more pliable. You could also use the rubber blade from a screen printing squeegee. (has to be flexable).
I start with 240 grit wet dry paper put some oil on the blade and rub till the blade starts to get shiney. Usually you will find scratches left over from the blade grinding that were hidden by the bead blast. Keep rubbing till they're gone then move up through the various grits. Change paper frequently. I go to about 600 grit for a nice finish, some people stop at 400 grit for satin.
The 240 grit will take the longest because of the hidden scratches, the rest will go pretty fast.
Drew