Yay or nay? Refinished bolsters on NF #77 barlow

Satin or polished?

  • Satin

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • polished

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
Bladenoobie1

Bladenoobie1

Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
1,261
I use, carry, and sharpen all my knives and as such they get scratched easily. My biggest gripe with traditionals is bolsters getting all scratched up and looking very dirty. Given that the bolster material of many traditionals is nickle silver, they scratch extremely easily and what began as a polished bolster becomes hazy and messy. I took my stag #77 barlow and refinished the bolsters, the springs, and the scales. The bolsters were as described above and I gave them a brushed finish as the scales were far too polished for my liking. I refinished the stag with a green scotch brite and buffed with beeswax. It has a nice matte color and much "warmer" feel. All in all I like the knife much more, though some may find this cringe worthy. If the bolsters were steel, I would leave them alone as a nice aged patina would look nice, but I can't get the same with nickel silver. Here are some quick cell phone shots as it's in the evening with no good light available.
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- Julian
 
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I think the brushed finish looks very nice as does the matted scale look. I'm not typically one for flashy tools. I have some high end fishing reels, and the same goes for those as well. I usually buy subdued finishes.
 
Thanks guys, in regards to what I used, I just wrapped a thick eraser in 600 grit silicon carbide sandpaper. Just use really consistent movements and the end product is pretty easy to get.
 
If you are happy with it then it's the right finish. (Looks good to me). OH
 
I voted polished. The satin looks nice but it will scratch up also. Sometimes when you touch the bolsters the nail ends up showing if it is a different hardness than the bolsters.
 
navihawk said:
I voted polished. The satin looks nice but it will scratch up also. Sometimes when you touch the bolsters the nail ends up showing if it is a different hardness than the bolsters.
Click to expand...

Yeah it still scratches but they blend in much more then polished. I probably need to sand to 320-400 grit for a more durable finish, but 600 is all I have at the moment. Also what do you mean by the nail ends showing?
 
Myself I prefer polished for springs, bolster and scales. Blades look nice matte by contrast though.

Of course it's your knife and you are the best and only judge of what works for you! I never keep my pocket-knife with keys or change, ever. So the bolsters don't seem to get knocked about or scratched much.

I think Steve may be referring to the pivot pin that can become visible through the bolsters when polishing? Seem to happen to CASE knives a fair bit, less with GEC and interestingly, rarely with Queen. They may use a different bolster construction?

Thanks, Will
 
I like them either way. Saying that, I also think the brushed finish looks good with those figured bolsters.
 
I definitely like brushed bolsters. I did that to my #15 boys knife and it turned out great. I don't dialike polished, bi given th choose I'd always prefer brushed.
 
I recently got a #15 with natural canvas micarta that had brushed bolsters. I really like them on a less than shiny handle. Polished to me looks better on shiny bone or acrylic. I think either would good on the woods.
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
Yeah it still scratches but they blend in much more then polished. I probably need to sand to 320-400 grit for a more durable finish, but 600 is all I have at the moment. Also what do you mean by the nail ends showing?
Click to expand...

What Will said. I know on Case knives if you buff the bolsters, the pin will buff out faster because it is softer.
 
wow, that looks way better brushed. Nice job.
 
No vote here because there is no option for both. I really like the looks of the satin finish you did! I do think it suits that knife just fine.
Under prolonged regular use and carry, either finish will eventually show signs of use, at least in my experience this is so.
 
I voted for polished because satin will show scratches as much as or more than polished, and I think that the polished will take on a nice matte patina of scratches and dings in time (like my wedding ring).
 
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