Stainless surface finishing

T

Technohedge

Joined
Sep 9, 2018
Messages
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Hi all,

Kitchen knife project is coming along nicely. I now have a fully ground and half surface finished knife that looks pretty straight! Fairly pleased with results so far.

Question on surface finishing: I have managed to get a bit of a mirror shine on this using 800/1200 grit paper and hand sanding. If i want to finish it off a bit more what the best option. I dont necessarily want a flawless mirror finish, but would it be best to keep on sanding with finer grits or can I use a buffing wheel at this stage?

If so what compound would you use to finish?

Its stainless steel, Nitro V

Thanks
 
For finishing nitro-v kitchen knives ( plungeless) I finish with a very fine scotch Brite belt loaded with compound. It's just shy of a mirror. I don't like mirror finishes on kitchen knives as it tends to hinder food release.
 
I've had luck with hand sanding up to 2000 and then autosol chrome polish on the buffer. Very messy though. Mirror finish that's fun to watch the water bead off of. My avatar is a mirror polish but i dont have any good reflection photos. As noted by Kevin, food sticks to mirror finishes like glue. They also show scratches easily but are very easy to touch up if you get a scratch.
 
Hmm Ok whats best to do if I want a more satin finish?

Im not very experienced at finishing metal

Cheers
 
Technohedge said:
Hmm Ok whats best to do if I want a more satin finish?

Im not very experienced at finishing metal

Cheers
Click to expand...

Go to youtube and look up Nick Wheelers sanding video. He will walk you through the steps and he is a top notch knife maker
 
I'm partial to hand sanding to 800 grit and final pulls at 400 grit. I like to drop down a grit for the final finish. Scotchbright or cork belts can also give a nice quick satin finish.

I have some examples on my website at
Scottkozubkives.com.
 
Also don't let us shy you away from a mirror polish. They are beautiful and cool to show people what you can do.
 
I quite like the effect of mirror polishing the spine, and leaving the bevels/flats satin. You get a shiny thing but it's a lot less effort being a smaller area :P
 
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