Blade Finish on Kitchen Cutlery?

[james terrio]

Hi folks, I'm interested to know how you all prefer your custom/handmade kitchen knives to be finished. The poll choices are pretty self-explanatory... multiple answers are allowed. Please feel free to explain your choices - for reasons of durabilty, easy cleaning, food doesn't stick as much, etc.

Thank you for your time and input!

 

[1066vik]

fine scotchbrite -- for a smooth, fairly satin look, and passivated to reduce the chance of reaction to humidity during its "breaking in" period.
for those who don't know, passivating is an acid etch that removes all surface carbon -- which may be deposited on the blade in the form of steel dust from the carbon steel blade that was polished up with the same belt before "this" blade.

 

[gmoneyluv]

Ugh! I can't pick just one! I think pretty much all of the finishes have their place depending on the knife's overall finish.

 

[james terrio]

Ugh! I can't pick just one! I think pretty much all of the finishes have their place depending on the knife's overall finish.

It's a multiple choice poll, you can vote for them all if you like *

I also posted a duplicate thread in General, so I can compare results between folks interested specifically in handmade knives with answers from a wider audience. So really, you can vote for them all twice!



* now why would I do that? Simply because people may have different preferences based on style or materials, or they may just like to see more than one option.

 

[Chameleonbear]

It depends a LOT on the type of material used. For a carbon steel I'm with Erik, scotchbrite belt. For a stainless either stonewash or mirror works.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

Voted in the general before I saw this one. Short version - prefer polished/smooth finishes. My experience w/ rough finishes (garage sale/estate sale rescue refurbs) is that the roughies seem (IMHO) to have more drag when cutting wet stuff.

 

[jstrykr74]

Scotchbrite or a patina works well for a knife that is going to be used everyday. It looks finished, but you don't have to worry about marring up the finish with normal use.