How do you all finish your kitchen knives?

A

avs3323

Joined
Oct 28, 2015
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Hello everyone,

First, I want to thank everyone for all the great info on this site - just getting into this hobby, there is so much to learn by reading everything here.


My main interest is working on kitchen knives, and I am getting better at the initial grinding, but I was curious how people went about finishing their work.

Right now, I go 60->120 on the belt, then to 120 on the disk to fix any issues in the bevels. Then, I go A65->A45->A30 on the trizact belts, followed by a very fine scotchbrite belt.

That leaves a nice machine finish, I've also gone back and hand sanded that, starting from 320 -> 600, and that works well for me too

Here is a picture of my most recent knife, on this one I was experimenting with how far I could take different scotchbrite belts, so the finish isn't that great - the profile and handle are my favorite so far though.

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I do similar: 60, 120, A100, A45, blue Scotchbrite

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Lately I have been trying out cork belts and really like them a lot. I use a 400 and an 800 loaded with green compound which leaves a nice high shine.
 
I hog with a ceramic 60, refine with ceramic 120 and then Trizact 237 A100 on leather backed platen.

Then I hand sand to final grit depending on what I want, most often 800 grit. But my latest was taken to 5000 grit and buffed.

This one is 800 grit.

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Hand sand to at least 600 and it is a PITA because the blades are large and quite hard!!!!:confused: IIRC, this one was somewhere between 1000 and 1500.
 
50 grit ceramic, then 80, then A300, A160, A100...hand finish with 220 then force a patina with mustard...makes a pretty durable non reactive finish. Easily maintained with the use of barkeepers friend and re applying mustard. I dab it on lightly with my forefinger and let sit 10 minutes. Rinse off and immediately dry.

edit to add: it is still reactive but wont turn onions black or anything like that
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I mirror all of mine, so my process is a bit different.
All grinding is after HT. 36 grit ceramic, 60 grit, then an A160 gator belt to get basically to final dimension. A100 gator with the edges dressed to refine the finish and rough in the plunges. (I do mine with a ricasso but relieve the heel so the ricasso will never get in the way)
Then a 400 grit Jflex ran wet with soluble oil coolant to finish the plunges and further refine the finish.
From there it's a 400 grit cork belt with coolant, followed by a 1000 grit cork belt with coolant. After that it's going back and forth between the buffer and cork belt until all the big scratches are gone and it takes a mirror with minimal buffing.
You can buff all the scratches out, but it makes a large flat ground blade look somewhat like a funhouse mirror.
 
60grit, 120grit, 220, ceramic. Then 400grit Trizact. I make all kitchen knives with CPM20CV steel
 
20170704_142132-1.jpg 20170704_141840-1.jpg I just tried a method that Kevin McGovern had mentioned, came off the belt at 220, hand sanded 320, 400 and finished with a fine scotch brite on the bottom of my 8" wheel. I like the results and I'm going to pick up a ultra fine and maybe some cork belts to try in the same fashion.
 
Hmm. My kitchen knife geometry is more of a Japanese grind. I grind all Post HT. I hog with a 60, finish with a 120. Then move to gator grit a100/65/45 then a 400 cork belt. Then I will finish my top bevel or "flat" (sometimes flat, sometimes not..) to 600 grit and bevel to 1000 grit. or I will handsand to 600 and finish the lower bevel by hand on waterstones. If i do a standard convexed grind I just blend everything into convex on my flat platen and handsand to a solid 600. I find I am never satisfied with how thin I can get a knife behind the edge on a grinder so I thin all knives behind the edge manually on an atoma 140, shapton glass 220, naniwa 400 grit stones before handsanding/finishing.
gyutoiron2_zpssgveuxat.jpg

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Lower bevel was thinned on stones, hand sanded to 1000 grit then polished with blue and pink 3m polishing papers. top is 600
nakiribox3_zpsv7hpnaf5.jpg

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This nakiri was hand sanded to 600 grit. lower bevels where then taken through a progression of water stones (400, 1k, 2k, 5k and then 2 natural stones an asagi and suita. Then polished with blue and pink 3m polishing papers since I do not use a powered buffer.) Lower bevel was thinned to zero then microbeveled on the Shinden Suita stone I used to polish it.
These are double beveled knives.
-Trey
 
clean grit pattern before and light pressure on the scotch belt i dont use the scotchbrite belts tot cover crappu grinds justyt to even things out
 
finish with 220 grit and then polish with Brownells polish-o-ray 400 (on a buffing wheel) which gives a wonderful satin finish.
 
Greaseless compound is wonderful stuff, and definitely worth experimenting with.
I usually use formax satin glo, but I've never heard anything but good about the Brownells, and I'll try it next order
 
Geoff Flato said:
Greaseless compound is wonderful stuff, and definitely worth experimenting with.
I usually use formax satin glo, but I've never heard anything but good about the Brownells, and I'll try it next order
Click to expand...

Mike Vagnino MS turned me onto this, apply to the buffing wheel and let it sit for a bit, the stuff works like liquid sandpaper.
Great working finish for a blade and a huge timesaver.
 
It can also work great for blending work with a heavier application, almost like a flexible grinding wheel. I've often used it that way to refine convex grinds before polishing
 
I can see that being very handy especially for kitchen blades where dead flat bevels are not desirable. I will have to try it too , I wonder if I can dress a belt with it.
 
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