Video: How to Satin Finish a Knife Blade by Hand

aarongough

aarongough

Joined
Mar 12, 2013
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1,167
Hey guys!
I've been asked to make this video quite a few times over the last year or so, I finally got a chance to film it a few weeks back when doing the finishing on my current batch of knives. Obviously it's aimed at newer knifemakers and guys just getting started:

[video=youtube;1b1mvkZcBw8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b1mvkZcBw8[/video]

My technique for hand finishing has been refined by suggestions from many of you over the last few years, so thank-you for that! If you guys have any suggestions or questions please let me know!

I've still got a lot to learn in terms of finishing on the grinder, I think that's going to big one for me over the next little while, and should make my hand sanding process much easier and less strenuous.

I'm planning to do a few more how-to videos over the next little while. I also have one big project in the works where I do an entire kitchen knife from scratch with only super basic tools, should be a lot of fun!

I'm trying to make sure that my YouTube videos can serve as a complete introduction to knifemaking for someone just getting started, so if you guys have suggestions for other topics I should address I would love to hear them! I'm also happy to answer any questions about the actual making of the video and so on.

-Aaron
 
Very well done and helpful. Thanks for doing this

Happy Holidays!

How wide is the piece of steel that you beveled? Is it something like a piece of 1.25" D2?
 
drysideshooter said:
Very well done and helpful. Thanks for doing this

Happy Holidays!

How wide is the piece of steel that you beveled? Is it something like a piece of 1.25" D2?
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No worries mate! Glad it's helpful!

For the beveled sanding stick I used 1.25" wide O1, just polished it on a scotchbrite belt. Pretty much any steel or even aluminum would work well. Aluminum or stainless would be convenient as they won't rust.
 
I appreciate you taking the time to put these videos together. I've watched everything on your Youtube channel and learned a lot from all of them.
 
Aaron you sure do work hard.

600 grit before heat treatment?

That is pretty fine finish pre heat treat.
 
if you are going to harden inside stainless foil or salt bath thats ok


Pablo
 
AVigil said:
Aaron you sure do work hard.

600 grit before heat treatment?

That is pretty fine finish pre heat treat.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah I need to start working a bit smarter instead I think, hence the 'finishing on a grinder' thread!

During heat-treat I coat the blades in anti-scale and then wrap them in stainless envelopes, so realistically I should actually be taking them higher before heat-treat, like all the way to 800 or so. The anti-scale inside the envelope completely prevents decarb and sands off very quickly, works very well actually!
 
aarongough said:
Haha, yeah I need to start working a bit smarter instead I think, hence the 'finishing on a grinder' thread!

During heat-treat I coat the blades in anti-scale and then wrap them in stainless envelopes, so realistically I should actually be taking them higher before heat-treat, like all the way to 800 or so. The anti-scale inside the envelope completely prevents decarb and sands off very quickly, works very well actually!
Click to expand...

Nice.

What do you do if you get any warp from heat treat. I know sometimes it can occur no matter how careful you are.
 
AVigil said:
Nice.

What do you do if you get any warp from heat treat. I know sometimes it can occur no matter how careful you are.
Click to expand...

I've found that if I hang the blades to cool (air quench) with as much space around them as possible (tip up) then they come out dead straight. The only time I've had them warp was when I had one side of the blades too close to the bench they were hanging from while cooling, one side must have cooled faster than the other I think. When that happened I straightened them at the end of the first temper... The warp was very minor in that case still though.

It's worth noting that I've never had an edge 'wrinkle', only very slight overall warping of the whole knife with uneven cooling.
 
With most stainless or near stainless you have around 10 minutes to straighten the blade if needed right after the quench, no need to wait after temper. I do this to D2, CPM s35vn, 440c and others.


Pablo
 
aarongough said:
I've found that if I hang the blades to cool (air quench) with as much space around them as possible (tip up) then they come out dead straight. The only time I've had them warp was when I had one side of the blades too close to the bench they were hanging from while cooling, one side must have cooled faster than the other I think. When that happened I straightened them at the end of the first temper... The warp was very minor in that case still though.

It's worth noting that I've never had an edge 'wrinkle', only very slight overall warping of the whole knife with uneven cooling.
Click to expand...

I have Knifemaker Jeff Mutz at TruGrit do my heat treating. He has huge aluminum plates for quenching and always has my blades come out dead even.

I have been to other knifemakers shops who send out to some of the big names in heat treating and sometimes a blade can not be dead straight.

I know Loveless use to leave a bit extra on his blades in case any of them needed to be corrected post heat treat.
 
Eventually I would like to move to doing all my grinding after heat-treat and under full coolant, probably including surface grinding, that should take care of any issues as the blade will just be profiled when quenched so with quench plates you can make 100% contact.

Pablo: thanks for the tip I will have to try that next time!
 
LOL! The 5:45 mark. How much steel should a steelsmith sand if a steelsmith could sand steel? Warp speed, Scotty! Thanks for YET ANOTHER great video, Aaron. Funny, I never have detected the accent until this video.
 
Nice video Aaron. I think you got as many views on it in two days as my hand sanding 101 got in a year, LOL.

Couple thoughts/suggestions:

While I appreciate a cool gizmo more than most... Your hand sanding block is cool, but personally I wouldn't want to use it because of the time needed to change paper (versus simply moving the strip) and the ergonomics of it.

I don't think the 800X step is necessary.

On your final pulls... a block with just a touch of give will get you the nicest finish with the least amount of time. I have found that an 80-90 durometer urethane is the best mix of hardness with just a little give. Also, you can do a pull stroke, and then do a push stroke through and out of the plunge... that gives an uber clean finish. You want to hold your upper body fairly rigid and pull from the waist.

All of this is just in my humble opinion... :)
 
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