He FBT,
Hope you put the pictures back online. Lots of [c]razy experienced makers on this forum and in this thread! They will give you honest and valuable advice. Not only for you but also for others to learn from...
Do what feels good...
I agree, there's nothing to be ashamed of, especially when just beginning a new craft and seeking advice to learn and grow from.
That said, remember that a cleanly done low grit finish (even 200 grit) will always look better than a "dirty" high polish (i.e. with a lot of scratches remaining beneath the reflective surface). I think practicing and learning to keep lines fairly crisp (grind lines, plunges etc.) and to have a clean/even hand rubbed finish is a great skill to develop and will help to provide a good foundation for other areas of fit and finish.
Check out Nick Wheeler's vid on hand sanding, it's helped many makers learn to improve their blade finishes, including myself:
But yea, the easiest/quickest way to get a rough finish to a high polish is to improve your grinding skills and take the finish as high as you can from the grinder before switching to hand sanding and/or going to the buffer. A 9" variable speed/reversible disc grinder is also a great tool to have in the shop, as you can glue on sheets of 9x11" paper and go up through all the grits and then simply do the finishing passes by hand. A rubber gasket backing with a somewhat harder durometer than typical contact wheels works great for going though the higher paper grits to help blend in the finish while also keeping grind lines from washing out, and it also helps to help avoid as much heat build-up that can happen from using a high grit on a solid surface, in other words just think of the difference between using higher grit belts on a flat platen vs a contact wheel.
I personally haven't done many highly polished blades, but I would like to try out Adam's belt progression sometime. At the moment if I were to polish a blade I would just take it up through about 400 on the belt grinder, then depending on the size of the knife, I'd either use the disc for a few grits or go straight to hand sanding up to the highest grit paper I have (2000) then buff it.
** If you're not already aware,
be very careful when buffing knives. They've severely injured and even killed knifemakers in the past by grabbing the knife from their hand and flinging it around the wheel right back into their body.
~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)
