high grit sandpaper options

I ordered a 600, 1200, 2000 grit to try. Any secrets to them like run them dry or wet or anything specific you've found that works better/worse?
 
i use rhynowet paper, and do mirror finishes most of the time. hand sanding up to 3000, and sometimes 5000 before buffing. i am perplexed that you cannot get rhynowet to cut @ 1200, even more so because 1/2 the blade is soft metal. did you hand sand up to 1200 alternating diagonal directions each time until all the scratches from the other direction were gone ? if not, you may be trying to remove some 400 scratches with 1200, which would not go well.
 
i use rhynowet paper, and do mirror finishes most of the time. hand sanding up to 3000, and sometimes 5000 before buffing. i am perplexed that you cannot get rhynowet to cut @ 1200, even more so because 1/2 the blade is soft metal. did you hand sand up to 1200 alternating diagonal directions each time until all the scratches from the other direction were gone ? if not, you may be trying to remove some 400 scratches with 1200, which would not go well.
Yeah, I'm confident it was a clean 1200, I alternate directions at each grit going 400,800,1200 and past 1200 it was like rubbing a cloth on steel, no cutting.
 
SiC is extremely hard. WAY harder than AlOx, which is what most sandpaper is (including Rynowet). The only time I have gone past a 1500 grit finish was with a W2 fixed blade that was 63HRC. I had no problem at all getting to 2500. I have never used diamond film, so I can't speak to how fast it is compared to SiC. I'm sure diamond is faster, but I can't do a cost/benefit analysis since I've never used the diamond. Silicone Carbide will cut most any steel with ease. It starts to struggle when the vanadium content of the steel is >4% and you're trying to get a high level of polish. But on 1095/W2/26C3, SiC will chew it up and spit it out.

Another note, that photo you posted with the hamon at 1200 with the 1500 powder looks GREAT. Very clean looking and something you should be proud of! That procedure is almost identical to what I use.
 
SiC is extremely hard. WAY harder than AlOx, which is what most sandpaper is (including Rynowet). The only time I have gone past a 1500 grit finish was with a W2 fixed blade that was 63HRC. I had no problem at all getting to 2500. I have never used diamond film, so I can't speak to how fast it is compared to SiC. I'm sure diamond is faster, but I can't do a cost/benefit analysis since I've never used the diamond. Silicone Carbide will cut most any steel with ease. It starts to struggle when the vanadium content of the steel is >4% and you're trying to get a high level of polish. But on 1095/W2/26C3, SiC will chew it up and spit it out.

Another note, that photo you posted with the hamon at 1200 with the 1500 powder looks GREAT. Very clean looking and something you should be proud of! That procedure is almost identical to what I use.
I appreciate it, that picture doesn't show the lines as clear as they are, anyway always looking to improve. The w2 blade you referenced above were you sanding with SC paper for all grits or certain ones or what? And what brand do you use?
 
very unusual. if 2500 paper will not remove scratches from the soft part of the blade, there is probably something else going on.
 
How long one strip last ?
depends on the steel...
wear resistant steels not very long, but it cuts
for a 3"x8" sheet I might get 2-3 8" kitchen knives out of it.
to be honest the material cost doesn't matter that much to me
The abrasives price isn't outrageous to me, it works and it works well.
I charge an additional $150-$250 for hand sanding a wear resistant steel so the diamond film cost doesn't matter to me.

I make knives everyday for a living, I can't spend my time being frustrated....
 
depends on the steel...
wear resistant steels not very long, but it cuts
for a 3"x8" sheet I might get 2-3 8" kitchen knives out of it.
to be honest the material cost doesn't matter that much to me
The abrasives price isn't outrageous to me, it works and it works well.
I charge an additional $150-$250 for hand sanding a wear resistant steel so the diamond film cost doesn't matter to me.

I make knives everyday for a living, I can't spend my time being frustrated....
Thanks ! I would order some to try it .I guess no strong pressure is required during sanding because of diamonds ?
 
I appreciate it, that picture doesn't show the lines as clear as they are, anyway always looking to improve. The w2 blade you referenced above were you sanding with SC paper for all grits or certain ones or what? And what brand do you use?
This was very early on in my knifemaking journey. So as I recall I was using regular AlOx Gator brand paper from the box stores up to the highest grit they had, which may have been 1200 for all I remember. But I do recall that I wanted to go to 2500, so I went and bought whatever SiC paper that Auto Zone had. IIRC, I used 1500, 2000, 2500, and then a Mother's Mag polish for the finish. This was a hunting knife for my dad. It eventually got dull and he asked me to resharpen, and at that point the beautiful finish I worked so hard on was all scratched up. No hamon on that knife. I haven't gone past 1500 grit finish on any knife since that one!
 
MagnaCut (wear resistant steel) to 15 micron with 3m diamond film


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3M and others make a whole line of lapping and micro-finishing sheets and films. The cost is surprisingly low when you think about the quality it produces. You need to use water or oil and slow speed when using these discs/sheets.



They also make diamond film in lapping sheets and discs:
That on a hard rubber backed disc will take a blade to a very high finish. I have used this in 5" and 6". The regular lapping film also comes in disc to do the prep-work for the diamond film.
 
So i finally got some diamond paper in and did some testing, more to come as well. I tested the paper first on low carbon damascus cladding and a w2 blade. I know these are not high alloy steels and probably the wrong steel to test on but for now it's what I had hardened.

Both knives came of the grinder at a clean perpendicular trizact A65.

The soft cladding knife is a 5 inch petty. On one side i used a single 1"x11" piece of 600 grit rhyno wet and it took about 3 minutes. On the other side i used a 1"x7" piece of diamond paper and it took the same amount of time. Cost wise this works out to $0.07 for rhyno and $3.0 for 3m diamond.

For the w2 knife it's an 8 inch full chef again at a clean A65. I was not able to get a clean 600 on one side with the diamond paper I had left (3"X8" $12.0) I got most of the way and had to switch to rhynowet to remove the final few scratches. The other side took 8"x11" of rhyno wet ($0.56) and was faster.

I know H HSC /// said he was getting a few knives per 3"X8" sheet so I wonder if there is a secret. I tested Windex, WD40, and oil for the sanding and while the paper cuts longer it still seems to dull pretty fast. I still have some 1250 and 2000 grit to test
 
There was diamond paper and diamond paper , which one you have ? You can not DULL diamonds that easy , no way !!! You do something wrong and you maybe tear diamonds from paper or you have no quality one paper . Don t use force when you sanding , diamonds will cut with very little pressure .And one more thing , diamonds likes hard steel , harder better ...
Diamonds on low carbon damascus ????
 
So i finally got some diamond paper in and did some testing, more to come as well. I tested the paper first on low carbon damascus cladding and a w2 blade. I know these are not high alloy steels and probably the wrong steel to test on but for now it's what I had hardened.

Both knives came of the grinder at a clean perpendicular trizact A65.

The soft cladding knife is a 5 inch petty. On one side i used a single 1"x11" piece of 600 grit rhyno wet and it took about 3 minutes. On the other side i used a 1"x7" piece of diamond paper and it took the same amount of time. Cost wise this works out to $0.07 for rhyno and $3.0 for 3m diamond.

For the w2 knife it's an 8 inch full chef again at a clean A65. I was not able to get a clean 600 on one side with the diamond paper I had left (3"X8" $12.0) I got most of the way and had to switch to rhynowet to remove the final few scratches. The other side took 8"x11" of rhyno wet ($0.56) and was faster.

I know H HSC /// said he was getting a few knives per 3"X8" sheet so I wonder if there is a secret. I tested Windex, WD40, and oil for the sanding and while the paper cuts longer it still seems to dull pretty fast. I still have some 1250 and 2000 grit to test
Which diamond abrasive specifically did you use?
The 3m diamond film is labeled in micron grit
 
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