Thoughts on this blade finish?

Does the brand/make of sandpaper you use make a difference? I am just using a cheap silicon carbide wet dry sandpaper I bought at canadian tire.
 
unky_gumbi said:
Does the brand/make of sandpaper you use make a difference? I am just using a cheap silicon carbide wet dry sandpaper I bought at canadian tire.
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Oh I bought some 220 grit cheap SiC sand papers, they look ok but it doesn't scratch even soft steel. I use those for handles these days but I guess I have to just dump them to the trash as it wears off leaving a black residue...
Emre
 
I have a little bit of sandpaper from Harbor Freight (I think comparable to canadian tire in the US), and it must be contaminated with coarse grits as I put some deeper scratches in my finish when I tried using it. I would avoid really cheap paper for this reason alone, but it also probably won't cut as well or as long as better paper will.
 
In siversmithing and jewelry design, we were taught that the effort spent to prevent scratches was a lot easier than the effort to get scratches out.

What does that mean in real terms?

Protect your work. Do not scoot your pieces across hard surfaces. Do not stack them. Get a large leather hide for your staging area. Mask your blades with tape or contact paper. And clean and sweep your working surfaces often. If you get in these habits, you will stop thinking of finishing as "scratch removal" and start thinking of it as "finishing". It will aso take you 1/3 the time.
 
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Los Angeles said:
I would recommend the high polish first, then mask it and add the texture through etching or bead blasting. You can get really creative and detailed with your pattern.

Contrast in texture is something that very few knifemakers play with.
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You could give it a high polish then mask the edge, splash wax on the rest and acid etch.
Richard

Acidsplash1.jpg
 
Good sandpaper does make a difference, I go to automotive supply and buy 50 sheet packs of sandpaper that makes it pretty cheap. I think the brand I am getting now is Gator. The norton wet/dry for metal is sold in most hardware stores and is good but a little pricey in the 5 sheet packs.

For the cost you get more sanding, better uniformity of grit and the grit is not removed by your lubricant. But with all that the most important thing in sand at 45 degree angle and really look to make sure all scratches are removed before moving to the next grit.
 
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