How To How can I put on a satin metal finish?

[ErikMB]

I have one of these wonderful Boker Barlow Expedition knives and I seem to have buffed off the satin finish on the brass bolsters by using one of those chemical impregnated polishing cloths. Now the bolsters show fingerprints.

I have used some scotch brite-type material but that puts on a more brushed look, not satin.

I am wondering if there is a way to put that satin finish back on. Does anyone know?

Thanks heaps!

 

[scdub]

Essentially a satin finish is just fine parallel scratches.

You just need to figure out what grit you want (start with a finer grit if you aren’t sure - it’s easy to make coarser scratches if you want).

The tricky part is keeping pressure and direction consistent.

I’d suggest practicing on some scrap metal (ideally brass) before working on the knife.

Good luck!

 

[ErikMB]

Ah, parallel. That's what I needed to know. I thought some machine made a microscopic pattern that resulted in some frosted effect but I couldn't figure it out.

Many thanks!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Looking at images online of the bolsters on that knife, they almost remind me of something more like a bead-blast finish as seen on other knives' blades (usually in stainless steel). More of a matte-like finish on the metal, as I see it, and maybe followed with some sort of oxidizing treatment to dull or 'patina' the brightness of the brass. I don't see that there's a simple way to duplicate that bead-blast effect as part of a quick fix.

I'd also echo as above, the description of 'satin' implies to me something with more sheen to it, as could be seen with fine/very fine sanding or as the finish produced by some Scotch-Brite products.

I've liked using the green Scotch-Brite pads found at the grocery store to knock down the polish on brass, nickel and stainless on knives' bolsters. Initially on brass, it will show some very fine lines of abrasion while the brass is still bright and relatively untarnished. But with brass especially, those fine lines will eventually be obscured somewhat by the patina that naturally forms on brass with even a little bit of handling, and it'll start approaching a look more like that finish on the Boker's brass bolsters - more matte-like, in other words. Picture below is an older Buck 112 folder of mine, on which I used the green Scotch-Brite. The picture was taken a little while after having done that, after the brass started to patina just a little bit.

 

[ErikMB]

At Starbucks, waiting for the Cub Scouts to finish laser tag, rubbing green Scot Brite on the brass of my Böker Expedition Barlow...

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

For what it's worth, this is how the Boker USA retail site describes the brass on the Expedition Barlow:

"...the bolsters and liners are made of matt blasted brass."

So, that sounds consistent with my perception of the finish seen in images online and would be difficult to perfectly replicate for touchup purposes. I'd still go with the Scotch-Brite treatment - it's cheap for materials and makes periodic touchups of scuffs & scratches easy. That's a big part of why I like doing them this way.