Finish grit for a working knife?

flatgrinder

flatgrinder

Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
2,045
Hi,

What is a realistic good looking finish for a working grade knife that doesn't compromise cutting performance?

I'm thinking 220 grit, then buff with green compound?

What do you guys do? Anyone use less than a 220 grit belt?

Thanks!
 
I usually hand sand to 1000 or 1500, maybe hit it with the buffer to find any fine scratches. Then i will put a 800 or 600 grit satin finish on it.

Since I use 01 steel, I sometimes like to put a patina on it. I do this by streaking the blade with yellow mustard (yes, god ol' yellow mustard from safeway, or you can swipe some form McDonalds....) with my finger. Let it dry for about 6-8 hours, then wash it off.

Ric
 
220 is pretty course, that will leave alot of valleys for moisture to get trapped and then rust. I have never used less then 400 for a finish grit unless it was a primitive finish. The green chromium oxide compound is also a finish compound to be used after a faster cutting one.

But there is something to be said for experimenting, if you don't like it you can always keep working up the grits. Try it and decide if you like it.
 
Although you can polish after getting to 220, how deep are the scratches if you finish to 220, then go straight to 1000, then 1500 (even 2000)? I mean, if you look @ some other production knives, you can still see the sanding pattern even though it is polished. That is different compared to let's say a straight satin finish with no sanding grain. I could understand about the scratches still being there if you only finish to 220 though.

Ironically, I am prepping a fillet knife in 154CPM to go to the heat treater. This morning I had just finished hitting it with 220, and the old man looked @ it and said that was good enough. I then went straight to 1000 then 1500. You can see the 220 sanding grain, but the surface is still polished, and you can see a reflection. Opinions??? If this is bad, I would have to re finish.
 
That's what I was wondering. :confused: It really does seem like a 220 grit finish can work.

I finished to 220 grit using Norton Ceramic belts (which are really fine, seems almost like a 320 grit) and buffed the blade using green chrome compound. The steel is D2, hardened to HRC 61.

It gives you a mirror finish, but you can still barely see "polished" scratches (they are really fine scratches, you can only see them if you hold the blade up close, at a distance of 12" or more it is a mirror). If you run your thumb nail over the bevels you can't feel anything.

I'm thinking of polishing it with a hard felt wheel instead of the loose buff that I'm currently using. I'll let you know how it goes. I kinda like the look of it -sort of a mirrored, satin finish.

Here is a picture of it:

IMG_1784copy.jpg
 
I take most of my blades to 600 grit. But recently I did my first two knives using D2, and I finished them to 320. Partly because with all that chromium, D2 should resist rust better, and it was more difficult to handsand, and I just didn't feel like going through all the grits. I like the look I ended up with, though.

The knife in your pic looks fine to me.
 
bob dozier leaves a 120 grit finish


personally, I wouldn't go less than 220 grit. 400 grit seems a happy medium.
 
I don't have a grinder or anything, so I leave mine around 220 for a working knife, usually. (Hands are too raw and blistered to continue if it doesn't need to be pretty :p ) I just took a knife I finished like that (1095 steel) camping recently, and didn't have rust issues.
 
Thanks for the replies! :thumbup:

Hey Dan, I didn't know Dozier used a 120 grit. If he uses 120, then 220 works for me. :D

The reason I was asking was that my expenses for belts this month was A LOT (more than what I spend on steel)!! And I'm trying to scale back my costs -but not at the expense of cutting performance.

I currently use: 60, 120 and 200 grit belts.
 
Carolsknife004.jpg
I finish mine with 240 grit 3M, then chase with 220 by for maybe 5 minutes.
 
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