Satin vs. mirror

[Jason Fry]

Which is preferred by collectors, a clean 800 satin or a mirror finish? The knife in question is CM 154 with mirror 416 bolsters and sambar stag, if that makes a difference.

The real dilemma.... I can nail an 800 grit satin. I don't have confidence that I can equally execute a mirror.

What does it take to nail a mirror finish? I've got green and white rouge on cotton buffs, and sandpaper to 1200 grit.

 

[Grayzer86]

My mirrors are not perfect, but are pretty darn good usually, and I hand sand to 2000 before hitting the buffer.

 

[AlteredMopar]

CMP 154 has a great mirror finish, because there is no grain pattern. I have guys that love a mirror finish and a few that don't want it. I had a knife maker tell me, the difference between a $100 knife and $200 knife was an hour worth of time and $3.50 worth of sand paper. Not sure I agree with that completely, but I sell more mirror finish blades than satin. I pretty much go to 1500 or 2000, then polish cloth from 2000 to 8000. You don't have to use the polish cloth if you have good wheels and buffer. I use the buffer with several grades of polish. The biggest issue I find is most people move on too soon to the next grit. Jumping to the next grit before gouges and scratches are gone, only takes longer. A scratch isn't gone until it's gone. After 800 grit the amount of sanding takes less time than it did to remove the deep ones. I also wet sand. It lets the sand paper last longer. You might want to change water when you change grit. Nothing will piss you off more than picking up a suspended particle in the water and having it dig in to fine polished steel.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

I used to do a lot of mirror finishes, but rarely do them now.

People are often hesitant to use a mirror finished knife, as they obviously scratch easily.

I prefer a satin finish on just about everything.

As long as you get out all of the previous scratches before switching belts, a mirror finish usually isn't too bad.