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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Vintage Sharpfinger Blade Polishing by hand with sandpaper
- Thread starter EEM3
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,438
If it's one of Schrade's 1095 blades, wet/dry sandpaper works beautifully on it. 1095 is very easy to sand & polish, and the wet/dry papers (silicon carbide or aluminum oxide) work very fast on it, even at finer grits. 2000+ grit will really start to put a mirror on it. Might also look into aluminum oxide 'polishing films', which are also basically sandpaper, but at very, very fine grit on mylar backing.
When first trying out the sandpaper, start with a high grit (2000+) and see what that does for the stains on your blade. If they're very light, even that fine grit should remove them easily, and minimize any additional scratching. Starting too low in grit will just create coarse scratches that'll need to be removed later. Don't use any lower grit than you'll need, unless the blade is deeply pitted; it'll save you a lot of time and elbow grease. Wrapping the paper around a sanding block (wood, or rubber works real well) will help to evenly distribute pressure, and that'll make for a more even and uniform result.
If a mirror polish is what you're after, going all the way through 2000+ grit (the higher the better), and following up with polishing paste like Flitz or Simichrome will get most of that done.
IN FACT, if the stains are very shallow, it may be a good idea to try the Flitz/Simichrome first. No point in sanding, if the polishing paste will get it done. They will remove oxide (rust or dark/black), so that would be worth a try, if you haven't done this already.
David
When first trying out the sandpaper, start with a high grit (2000+) and see what that does for the stains on your blade. If they're very light, even that fine grit should remove them easily, and minimize any additional scratching. Starting too low in grit will just create coarse scratches that'll need to be removed later. Don't use any lower grit than you'll need, unless the blade is deeply pitted; it'll save you a lot of time and elbow grease. Wrapping the paper around a sanding block (wood, or rubber works real well) will help to evenly distribute pressure, and that'll make for a more even and uniform result.
If a mirror polish is what you're after, going all the way through 2000+ grit (the higher the better), and following up with polishing paste like Flitz or Simichrome will get most of that done.
IN FACT, if the stains are very shallow, it may be a good idea to try the Flitz/Simichrome first. No point in sanding, if the polishing paste will get it done. They will remove oxide (rust or dark/black), so that would be worth a try, if you haven't done this already.
David
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