Grit Progression for Mirror Polish

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Messages
1,598
What is your guys grit progression for getting a proper mirror finish?
I just recently tried:
60
120
220
320
400
500
600
800
& 15 micron.
I then buffed with coarse(dark 220?), brown(600) & finally green chrome.

And as it turned out to be a very nice polish, I can still see slight grind lines. Now I carefully did each step, so I dont know if maybe the 800 to the 15micron is too much of a step?

Your progression and type of belts you use would be great to hear about.

Update: The visible lines I can't even pick up in a photo, but still enough to bug me.
 
You guys may want to try the Deerfos felt backed film belts in 1200 and 2500 grit from Tru Grit when finishing a blade for high polish. Also I always skip the 500 grit belts...they never seem to help much. I like the Gator and Norax belt in X30 or 30X whichever and also the X16 and X5 belts. Don't forget to hand sand longways before getting up in the grits to eliminate the up and down scratches. Just my opinion again. Larry
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My take is to go to 8000 grit and then buff. The only problem with a mirror polish is that you spend the rest of the knife's life going back to 2000/4000/8000/buff ... over and over again. That is why I don't do them anymore. A nice satin finish will last almost forever, a mirror finish lasts until something touches it.
 
I never thought of hand sanding a bit first then going to the grinder. Ill have to try that out.
 
I don't do them any more ( no room for buffers ) , 60 , 220 , 600 , 15 micron . Green chrome and then diamond white .
 
ONeill said:
I don't do them any more ( no room for buffers ) , 60 , 220 , 600 , 15 micron . Green chrome and then diamond white .
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Man, thats a real short list of grits. You were able to get a clean polish with those? I used the same belts with 5 more in between and still got slight visible grind lines.
 
colu41 said:
Man, thats a real short list of grits. You were able to get a clean polish with those? I used the same belts with 5 more in between and still got slight visible grind lines.
Click to expand...

most of the time I would end up back at the micron for some small scratches after buff , but then I was working with the old and GOOD ATS-34 .

There are makers out there that go from 60 right to 400 .

Oh , by the way , you do all of that down to 600 before heat treat . I should mention also that on the Stainless I could take it down to an almost finished edge and had Paul Bos do my heat treat . Not to much to do when it came back .
 
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While not a true mirror polish, i found that going up to say 1500-2000 and then hitting it with the polishing paper gave a nice shine. I am sure that a rottenstone slurry or some similar super fine abrasive powder would work even better. My experience on this knife was that hand sanding lengthwise kind of "hides" those microscratches a bit better.
 
i am not an expert at mirror finishes, but i find if i coat the blade in dykem marking fluid between each grit, it shows me the spots i missed because it stays in the scratches. i find less scratches later on doing this. also, i use a machine up to 800, then do 1000 & 1500 by hand. instead of alternating directions of each grit, i will do 1000 grit to the upper right in a 45 degree angle, then when its done i will do 1000 in a 45 degree to the upper left. since you are already at 1000 it only takes a few swipes and it will show you things you missed with the first direction before moving onto 1500. this will give a you a really clean finish that only takes a few swipes on the buffer to bring to a shine.
 
woodster said:
i am not an expert at mirror finishes, but i find if i coat the blade in dykem marking fluid between each grit, it shows me the spots i missed because it stays in the scratches. i find less scratches later on doing this. also, i use a machine up to 800, then do 1000 & 1500 by hand. instead of alternating directions of each grit, i will do 1000 grit to the upper right in a 45 degree angle, then when its done i will do 1000 in a 45 degree to the upper left. since you are already at 1000 it only takes a few swipes and it will show you things you missed with the first direction before moving onto 1500. this will give a you a really clean finish that only takes a few swipes on the buffer to bring to a shine.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea. I will have to try that.
 
colu41 said:
What is your guys grit progression for getting a proper mirror finish?
I just recently tried:
60
120
220
320
400
500
600
800
& 15 micron.
I then buffed with coarse(dark 220?), brown(600) & finally green chrome.

And as it turned out to be a very nice polish, I can still see slight grind lines. Now I carefully did each step, so I dont know if maybe the 800 to the 15micron is too much of a step?

Your progression and type of belts you use would be great to hear about.

Update: The visible lines I can't even pick up in a photo, but still enough to bug me.
Click to expand...
I use diamond stones 220, 320, 400, 600, 800 then switch to strop using diamond pastes 7 micron, 5 micron, 3.5 micron, 2 micron, 1 .5 micron, 1.0 micron and finally 0.5 micron.
 
Welcome ezzimist76,
This is a rather old thread. Thanks for your info, but the people reading it back in 2016 have probably figured it out by now.

Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.
 
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