Finishing a blade?

[Happy Face]

I've never seen a tutorial on this, so I'm wondering,

How exactly is a blade finished? Do you guys just use a belt grinder/sander to grind it into shape and then leave it like that, or are there other steps you need to get it to look good?

 

[Hengelo_77]

The sky is the limit, but basicaly you can either leave the machine finnish or finnish by handsanding.
The latter takes more time but generaly it gives a better looking finnish.
You can call it quits at gritt 280, go up to gritt 2500 is you feel like it, or anything inbetween.

 

[12345678910]

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=694673

 

[Salem Straub]

You can leave a knife with a very nice belt finish and call it good, if you use a sharp belt and control your grinds well. Gator grit belts are very good for this. J-flex belts work well if sharp. A step beyond a standard belt finish would be a scotch-brite belt or wheel finish, also achieved on the grinder but giving a clean brushed/satin blended finish, which also can be very nice.


There is the option of going for a mirror or buffed satin finish with all power equipment. After grinding carefully to a high grit on the belt grinder, you can load a cork belt with buffing rouge to continue, then move to the buffer to get your final shine, generally moving to a higher grit abrasive with each step. This can also be done by skipping the buffing belt and going straight to the buffer from a high grit on the grinder, or by grinding up to 600 grit or so, hand sanding to 1500 or even 2000 grit, then buffing for a crisp mirror shine. I don't mirror finish much but a search of the forums will turn up a lot of useful info on this. There are several methods out there.

A lot of guys use a "hand-rubbed" finish. It can be done simply by getting to a clean 400 or 600 grit belt finish, then dropping back one grit size and hand sanding to finish. Typically this is done with a sanding block, flat for flat blades and the flats of partial-height grinds, and with a radiused block corresponding to your contact wheel size to hand sand a hollow grind. You can use a large or small block, padded with rubber or leather or not padded at all. Experiment and research; you'll find what works for you.
Blades can be sand or bead blasted as well. I have not done this; but basically, grind with belt to 400-ish, go to your blasting cabinet, blast evenly with media. Research will also turn up a lot of material on this.

A variable speed grinder will enable you to get a nicer, more even machine finish.

Specialty finishes would include etching for damascus or hamon, and patinas such as mustard or bleach finishes for an "aged" carbon steel look. Generally these type finishes work well after hand rubbing.

 

[jonnymac44]

Great post, Salem:thumbup:

You can leave a knife with a very nice belt finish and call it good, if you use a sharp belt and control your grinds well. Gator grit belts are very good for this. J-flex belts work well if sharp. A step beyond a standard belt finish would be a scotch-brite belt or wheel finish, also achieved on the grinder but giving a clean brushed/satin blended finish, which also can be very nice.


There is the option of going for a mirror or buffed satin finish with all power equipment. After grinding carefully to a high grit on the belt grinder, you can load a cork belt with buffing rouge to continue, then move to the buffer to get your final shine, generally moving to a higher grit abrasive with each step. This can also be done by skipping the buffing belt and going straight to the buffer from a high grit on the grinder, or by grinding up to 600 grit or so, hand sanding to 1500 or even 2000 grit, then buffing for a crisp mirror shine. I don't mirror finish much but a search of the forums will turn up a lot of useful info on this. There are several methods out there.

A lot of guys use a "hand-rubbed" finish. It can be done simply by getting to a clean 400 or 600 grit belt finish, then dropping back one grit size and hand sanding to finish. Typically this is done with a sanding block, flat for flat blades and the flats of partial-height grinds, and with a radiused block corresponding to your contact wheel size to hand sand a hollow grind. You can use a large or small block, padded with rubber or leather or not padded at all. Experiment and research; you'll find what works for you.
Blades can be sand or bead blasted as well. I have not done this; but basically, grind with belt to 400-ish, go to your blasting cabinet, blast evenly with media. Research will also turn up a lot of material on this.

A variable speed grinder will enable you to get a nicer, more even machine finish.

Specialty finishes would include etching for damascus or hamon, and patinas such as mustard or bleach finishes for an "aged" carbon steel look. Generally these type finishes work well after hand rubbing.

 

[tryppyr]

One other "finish" is to acid etch designs into the blade. Here's a blade that shows the result of this technique:

Basically, the process (as I understand it) is to cover the blade with an etch resist (bees wax and asphaltum), then use a burin or other sharp tool to scratch away the etch resist wherever you want the etching to occur. Dip the blade for the appropriate amount of time in the acid, then check the results. When done, melt away the remaining etch resist.

- Greg