The process I use to put a mirror finish on a knife. It isn't perfect, but it is acceptable for my current skill level. I'd love to hear what others are doing.
6 stitch later, I learned the hard way.. I knew it was dangerous but just got a little overconfident. Glad someone else takes the time to go thru the grit steps, like myself. Great work man!
I have done mirror finishes that are so clean that it messes with the mind on non knife objects, the appearance is really cool but definitely isn't worth the effort. The final polish was from .3micron aluminum oxide on a specialized buff. Knife polishing is simultaneously easier and harder, the sanding isn't usually mechanized but the buffing is only 1 step, and you don't need it to have a scratch free surface under a microscope. Just an FYI be extremely careful with the buffer, knife makers have been killed by buffer accidents. Buffers are one of the most dangerous power tools you can use in a home shop.
Hi may I ask some additional details about the aluminum oxide compound you used? Did you make it or is a product available off the top shelf? For safety i use a drill with variable speed Thank you an kind regards Gino
@@gino3286 I never sourced the abrasives at either of the labs where I have done that level of work(2 different labs on the same university campus). I assume that any abrasives meant to prepare metallography samples would be similar. There is a chance I misremembered, the final step, it might have actually been .03 micron it was suspended in a fluid that had a different viscosity from the fluid that suspended the diamond abrasives used for most of the polishing after the sandpaper, and it used a different backing material. Whatever the grit progression was it was basically a mirror a few steps before the end.
@@garethbaus5471 hi thank you very much for the very kind and valuable advice I will do some research on metallography analysis I understand well that you reached a mirror finish only by sanding? Very interesting With which grit?
@@gino3286 The sanding was just to create a smooth consistent surface, and stopped at 1200 grit which is pretty far from mirror. The visually mirror finish was mostly reaching using a series of diamond compounds on soft backings.
@@garethbaus5471 hi thank you very much again I will follow your advice i have to study better about compounds The choice is endless and I still quite confused For sand paper grit grade is always available Not so for different compounds Unfortunately diamond pastes are not cheap Kind regards gino
Thank you for your reply, about wheel direction. This is not a personal criticism...its about physics. Can I suggest looking at a clip by Knife Grinders Australia. The main part is very interesting about how normal wheels overheat and de-temper blades. At about 4:15 you see how the switch is on the back side of the grinder. If a blade catches in a wheel it will fly off in the direction of the wheel. Type in on TH-cam Heat in sharpening- Felt & Buffing wheels Cheers, from Australia.
Boride CS-HD poilishing stones will make work much faster and save you huge amount of time, more cost effective than sandpaper. I think you can get them up to 1200 grit.
Was wondering why you use the lavendar buffing compoumd to [polish . There are multiple compounds.,(chromium oxide, aluminum oxide), that are 30000 to 160000 grit. Should work more effective than your final dry buff/ Just a suggestion. For final quality as well as speed/
Thanks! I had tried a few compounds that came in a kit. Still learning. Lately I’ve been using the white compound. Not sure on the grit, but it works better than the blue. I don’t know, I still like the dry wheel to finish. I haven’t seen anyone else do it, so it’s probably wrong... but I like that it cleans the blade up well and removes compound residue.
At this point in time all of the stick buffing compounds are incorrect in terms of knowing exactly what you are actually using. So no consistency, especially on unique steels. Secondly all of not , most buffing bars or sticks are not healthy to use, because they use petroleum products that vaporize when using them on the application to the cotton wheels.
This was 52100. It has enough chromium to polish pretty well. 1095 does not polish as well, but you can still get pretty good finish out of it as well.
What happened to your face LoL? I go 240 320 600, then buff with an angle grinder 💪. Comes out ok some underlying scratches but achieves what I want with reduced surface area to slow rust on carbon steel. Normally let tarnish though.
Nothing happened to my face... lol Sounds like that works! I have changed up my process a little since this video, but the concept is the same. I really like how stainless polishes up!
You shouldn't hand sand with every grit in the same direction. You have no way of seeing if you removed all the scratches from the previous grit if all your scratches run the same direction. That could be why you had to go back to hand sanding a few times because the deeper scratches weren't fully removed. Aaron Gough has a great video on handsanding. th-cam.com/video/1b1mvkZcBw8/w-d-xo.html
Yea, the higher grits you are right. I personally have no trouble seeing whether or not the scratches are out with the lower grits. I have found that the same direction works for me and reduces risk of ruining crisp lines. Thanks
OK, thanks, BUT...I think your wheel is going in the wrong direction. Have it spin away from you, so if the blade catches it will fly off and stab the far wall. Spinning towards you and if it catches its ER time. So if you are going to make an instructional video, glasses, leather apron, buffing wheel turning away, knife on a board when you are near the sharp parts ( yes, I have had a deep cut not doing that), and if you use an MDF wheel use a respirator (cancer!).
Thanks for your reply, George. My videos are less instructional and more sharing my process as a participant in the community rather than as an authority on the matter. Yet I appreciate constructive feed back. It makes me better. I don't know about a buffer going the other direction. I have never seen another maker ever use a buffer the way you describe. It is far safer to have the knife heading towards the ground rather than up towards your face. The old great like Loveless added boards to the back of their buffers to keep the knife from coming around. I have thought about adding those to mine as well. But never heard of anyone running a buffer backwards or standing behind it.
Sorry but this is not mirror polish,, its still satin finish,,, you hand sand the blade to high grit to get rid of the hand sanding marks after the buffing- thats a mirror polish
I don’t think high grit and high buff to the point you can see yourself in the metal is normally classified as a satin finish. It is normal to have to go back and forth a few times between hand finishing and buffing. Satin is usually 600 grit as the final step. What would counts as mirror finish to you? Love to check out your work! Thanks!
@@lewismadeknifeandtool I was just busting out a blade today and I don't know how it happened but that wheel grabbed it and just about threw it in my face. Buffing is one of the worst times that it can grab your knife.
@@wiggsan hey! I make myself wear glasses even buffing now. A couple good grabs and I learned I don't want to mess with not having at least glasses on. :)
6 stitch later, I learned the hard way.. I knew it was dangerous but just got a little overconfident. Glad someone else takes the time to go thru the grit steps, like myself. Great work man!
Haha! Thanks man! I'm learning everyday myself.
probably better to polish with a dull knife, then you can sharpen it later
@@kushpaladin are you going to round your point or something?
Nicely done! I'm looking to "Mirror-Up" my Pohl Force MK-8. Bead blasted finishes don't look so good after some use. Thanks!
Looking good mate!
could totally see you getting big great Vid man
Thank you!
I have done mirror finishes that are so clean that it messes with the mind on non knife objects, the appearance is really cool but definitely isn't worth the effort. The final polish was from .3micron aluminum oxide on a specialized buff. Knife polishing is simultaneously easier and harder, the sanding isn't usually mechanized but the buffing is only 1 step, and you don't need it to have a scratch free surface under a microscope. Just an FYI be extremely careful with the buffer, knife makers have been killed by buffer accidents. Buffers are one of the most dangerous power tools you can use in a home shop.
Hi may I ask some additional details about the aluminum oxide compound you used? Did you make it or is a product available off the top shelf? For safety i use a drill with variable speed Thank you an kind regards Gino
@@gino3286 I never sourced the abrasives at either of the labs where I have done that level of work(2 different labs on the same university campus). I assume that any abrasives meant to prepare metallography samples would be similar. There is a chance I misremembered, the final step, it might have actually been .03 micron it was suspended in a fluid that had a different viscosity from the fluid that suspended the diamond abrasives used for most of the polishing after the sandpaper, and it used a different backing material. Whatever the grit progression was it was basically a mirror a few steps before the end.
@@garethbaus5471 hi thank you very much for the very kind and valuable advice
I will do some research on metallography analysis
I understand well that you reached a mirror finish only by sanding?
Very interesting With which grit?
@@gino3286 The sanding was just to create a smooth consistent surface, and stopped at 1200 grit which is pretty far from mirror. The visually mirror finish was mostly reaching using a series of diamond compounds on soft backings.
@@garethbaus5471 hi thank you very much again I will follow your advice
i have to study better about compounds
The choice is endless and I still quite confused For sand paper grit grade is always available Not so for different compounds
Unfortunately diamond pastes are not cheap
Kind regards gino
You work the grits the same as myself, except I use windowleen, not oil or wd40.
Great job 👏
Thank you for your reply, about wheel direction. This is not a personal criticism...its about physics. Can I suggest looking at a clip by Knife Grinders Australia. The main part is very interesting about how normal wheels overheat and de-temper blades. At about 4:15 you see how the switch is on the back side of the grinder. If a blade catches in a wheel it will fly off in the direction of the wheel. Type in on TH-cam Heat in sharpening- Felt & Buffing wheels Cheers, from Australia.
Boride CS-HD poilishing stones will make work much faster and save you huge amount of time, more cost effective than sandpaper.
I think you can get them up to 1200 grit.
Thanks for the information! I’m always open to saving time and money!
A lot of micro particles floating in there, might want to wear some kind of respirator and goggles/face shield. Nice video.
Boiler up!!
Boiler up! Are you a fellow boilermaker?
@@lewismadeknifeandtool Yeah buddy! I went to high school in West Lafayette, then came back for a PhD at Purdue (2005-09).
@@andrewneilson227 nice!
Was wondering why you use the lavendar buffing compoumd to [polish . There are multiple compounds.,(chromium oxide, aluminum oxide), that are 30000 to 160000 grit. Should work more effective than your final dry buff/
Just a suggestion. For final quality as well as speed/
Thanks! I had tried a few compounds that came in a kit. Still learning. Lately I’ve been using the white compound. Not sure on the grit, but it works better than the blue.
I don’t know, I still like the dry wheel to finish. I haven’t seen anyone else do it, so it’s probably wrong... but I like that it cleans the blade up well and removes compound residue.
At this point in time all of the stick buffing compounds are incorrect in terms of knowing exactly what you are actually using. So no consistency, especially on unique steels.
Secondly all of not , most buffing bars or sticks are not healthy to use, because they use petroleum products that vaporize when using them on the application to the cotton wheels.
What kind of steel is used for the blade?
This was 52100. It has enough chromium to polish pretty well. 1095 does not polish as well, but you can still get pretty good finish out of it as well.
@@lewismadeknifeandtool tnx!
What happened to your face LoL? I go 240 320 600, then buff with an angle grinder 💪.
Comes out ok some underlying scratches but achieves what I want with reduced surface area to slow rust on carbon steel. Normally let tarnish though.
Nothing happened to my face... lol
Sounds like that works! I have changed up my process a little since this video, but the concept is the same. I really like how stainless polishes up!
You shouldn't hand sand with every grit in the same direction. You have no way of seeing if you removed all the scratches from the previous grit if all your scratches run the same direction. That could be why you had to go back to hand sanding a few times because the deeper scratches weren't fully removed. Aaron Gough has a great video on handsanding.
th-cam.com/video/1b1mvkZcBw8/w-d-xo.html
Yea, the higher grits you are right. I personally have no trouble seeing whether or not the scratches are out with the lower grits. I have found that the same direction works for me and reduces risk of ruining crisp lines.
Thanks
OK, thanks, BUT...I think your wheel is going in the wrong direction. Have it spin away from you, so if the blade catches it will fly off and stab the far wall. Spinning towards you and if it catches its ER time. So if you are going to make an instructional video, glasses, leather apron, buffing wheel turning away, knife on a board when you are near the sharp parts ( yes, I have had a deep cut not doing that), and if you use an MDF wheel use a respirator (cancer!).
Thanks for your reply, George. My videos are less instructional and more sharing my process as a participant in the community rather than as an authority on the matter. Yet I appreciate constructive feed back. It makes me better.
I don't know about a buffer going the other direction. I have never seen another maker ever use a buffer the way you describe. It is far safer to have the knife heading towards the ground rather than up towards your face. The old great like Loveless added boards to the back of their buffers to keep the knife from coming around. I have thought about adding those to mine as well. But never heard of anyone running a buffer backwards or standing behind it.
Sorry but this is not mirror polish,, its still satin finish,,,
you hand sand the blade to high grit to get rid of the hand sanding marks after the buffing- thats a mirror polish
I don’t think high grit and high buff to the point you can see yourself in the metal is normally classified as a satin finish. It is normal to have to go back and forth a few times between hand finishing and buffing. Satin is usually 600 grit as the final step.
What would counts as mirror finish to you? Love to check out your work!
Thanks!
@@lewismadeknifeandtool Just use more aggressive polishing compound and the scratches will be gone,,,on such small blade in 2min
Thank you!
You need to wear eye protection!
Thanks for looking out! I don't usually wear eye protection hand sanding or buffing, but definitely when grinding, drilling, or machining.
@@lewismadeknifeandtool I was just busting out a blade today and I don't know how it happened but that wheel grabbed it and just about threw it in my face. Buffing is one of the worst times that it can grab your knife.
@@wiggsan hey! I make myself wear glasses even buffing now. A couple good grabs and I learned I don't want to mess with not having at least glasses on. :)
@@lewismadeknifeandtool Good! I hated to say anything, but it was worth chancing offending your rather than having you damage your eye or lose one.
Raise your hand next time you want to talk!