Satin Finish

childzplay

childzplay

Joined
Jun 13, 2006
Messages
202
How do factories get that perfect no line satin finish on their knives? I'm a big fan of Emerson knives and the finish on their is perfect. Is this something that can be done by us custom fellas? If so, how do you do it?

Depending on the knife, sometimes I love to see perfect hand rubbed lines, but on other knives I'd like to get a no line satin finish. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
I've done some media blasting on a few to get a nice no glare finish. Some guys will also tumble blades after blasting. I'm no expert on factory knives, but I would imagine that a blasted and/or tumbled finish is probably pretty common.
 
After heat treat and hand sanding. I try to get the blade as smooth as possible to help ensure an even finish. The last one was sanded to 1000 grit before blasting.
 
I have a low end blasting cabinet. Most of these will work pretty well for knife sized stuff. I'm shopping for a new compressor soon, my no-name 13 gal. crapped out on me a few weeks ago. A lower end compressor will work as long as it can output the min psi and cfm that the cabinet is rated for. my cabinet suggested 5 cfm at 80 psi if I recall.. If investing in new equipment isn't an option, you could call around to some local auto body or hod rod shops... maybe even another knifemaker in your area to see if they would do it for you. Either way, do a few test pieces and see if you like the finish. The type and grit of the media will make a pretty big difference on the finish.
 
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