What’s your favorite blade finish?

[Richard338]

It depends on the knife and purpose, but I like a hand sanded unidirectional 800 grit which is probably a bit past satin.

 

[DocJD]

On users , I just prefer any finishes that are smooth and slick for slicing but are also low maintenance and forgiving of scratches and other damage .

The worst, IMO, are mirror polished soft steels that magnify every scratch and ding . Same for the older types of coatings that easily scratched off .

I suppose, if you can truly embrace the beauty and character of the well used blade , then anything would be OK .

 

[tony281sc2]

On users , I just prefer any finishes that are smooth and slick for slicing but are also low maintenance and forgiving of scratches and other damage .

The worst, IMO, are mirror polished soft steels that magnify every scratch and ding . Same for the older types of coatings that easily scratched off .

I suppose, if you can truly embrace the beauty and character of the well used blade , then anything would be OK .

I agree. I like stonewash/blackwash/WF for hiding scratches on heavy users, which those do a great job of. Machine satin is beautiful tho especially with carbon fiber. And DLC appeals to my inner mall ninja I guess lol but if it’s on a high quality knife I think it looks fantastic (like the 0801blk or the 0095blk or PM2).

 

[TheArab]

I don't think I look for a certain finish. If a knife catches my eye, then it looked good with that finish.

 

[CWL]

I've always preferred hand rubbed satin because it's the easiest to refinish if I ever chew-up a blade flat

 

[Bing Gao]

Stone washed for me. Timeless.

 

[carmen454]

From a practical perspective, a satin finish applied with greystar buffing compound. It hides minor wear well and even major wear can be easily taken out in not much more time than it takes to get rid of tape residue.

 

[scdub]

Interesting poll.

It definitely depends on the knife.

I voted working finish as that’s my favorite of the ones listed, but really it’s a toss-up between that and a high/mirror polish.

On some knives it looks pretty sweet imo, even on rough finished knives. I’ve done a few:

 

[Chronovore]

Rough Stonewash - obscures scratches and sparkles in sunlight.

 

[Natlek]

sandblasted and then hard chrome

 

[tony281sc2]

Interesting poll.

It definitely depends on the knife.

I voted working finish as that’s my favorite of the ones listed, but really it’s a toss-up between that and a high/mirror polish.

On some knives it looks pretty sweet imo, even on rough finished knives. I’ve done a few:

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That is a badass gun, is it a .44?

 

[herisson]

Mirror polish, anytimes. The scratches will work in anyways, why start off with scratches ? And it's so much easier to keep squeaky clean...

 

[scdub]

That is a badass gun, is it a .44?

I just asked my buddy who I gave the knife to. Apparently it’s a .357 Smith and Wesson. Definitely a sweet looking piece!

 

[MolokaiRider]

Other:

Mirror polish.

 

[BTTLBRN]

Stonewash for me, though a properly done DLC comes in a close second.

 

[CHNeal]

Before I bought a Hinderer with working finish I would have answered stonewashed. Now the WF is what I really like.

 

[Skar]

Not a big deal to me either way.
I usually like dlc black blades, I generally don't like being blinded by the sun.

But I do like the black nitride coating ( I think that's what it is?) on the tuff quite a bit.

Again I really don't seem to mind either way. I like the black blade but I seem to carry a scratched up mirror blade most of the time !

 

[Knifemaniac87]

I’m a fan of the hand rubbed satin finish.

 

[Knives&Lint]

I'm a fan of multiple finishes, depending on the knife. I will say that in recent times I tend to stay away of coated blades more often than not, unless they are also stonewashed (or I stonewash them myself). For this reason I'm not a fan of Cerakote coating on blades.

My favorite is probably the different versions of stonewashed. It can just be your standard stonewashed, or it can be acidwashed, "blackwashed" (dlc/pvd+stonewashed), or the Hinderer working finish; which in my eyes are all an extension of stonewashed.

A good hand polished mirror finish looks amazing on high end knives, but I'm not too big on polished blades on other knives (Case for example). Many end up with pretty much a smudge/fingerprint finish most of the time . On my Case knives I like to put a satin finish on the blades and bolsters by hand. I really the enjoy the process of putting on a satin finish. It's almost meditative. I don't count myself as being very skilled at it, but I've always done well enough to be happy with the results.

Which brings me to another favorite, two-tone. I really think it highlights the finish on a blade.

I particularly like it when I see a knife and get an idea of something I can do myself. This actually factors a great deal into my purchase decisions, where I look for knives that I know I can do something interesting to and make them my own. Like I said before, I don't have any great skill at it, and every time I do it I feel like I'm out of my depth, but just having the idea and brining it to fruition is a great driving force for me.

Here's a few that I've done myself

 

[scdub]

Before I bought a Hinderer with working finish I would have answered stonewashed. Now the WF is what I really like.

Wait - “working finish” is an actual finish??

I thought that just meant a “used” finish - haha - that’s what I prefer.