How are hand rubbed Satin Finishes achieved?

[Bill Burke]

Hi Bill,

This is a beautiful finish that you have put on the knife. Besides the spray, how did you go about putting a satin finish on it?

I first grind to a 1200 grit norax blt then drop back to Norton 800 grit black ice then 1000 grit then 1500 then back to 1000. these are all backed by a soft rubber block.

[mainaman]

on a razor best way is to buff it
take it to 600 greaseless and that gives you perfect satin if done right.

[Bill Burke]

I am not a authority on the subjet but I would stay away from a buffer with a straight razor. it is way too easy to overheat the thin blade and totally ruin it. I have also made quite abit of money "fixing " razors that were buffed and the edge rounded so badly that they had to be taken to a 220 grit stone to reestablish proper edge geometry.

[mainaman]

I am not a authority on the subjet but I would stay away from a buffer with a straight razor. it is way too easy to overheat the thin blade and totally ruin it.

In my experience greaseless does not heat up nearly as much as polishing compounds. People usually keep a glass of water and dip the blades often to coll them down.

I have also made quite abit of money "fixing " razors that were buffed and the edge rounded so badly that they had to be taken to a 220 grit stone to reestablish proper edge geometry.

Yes this is a problem, this can happen when people have no experience, the buffing wheel is too big for the razor (6" used for 5/8 razor for example), or people want to remove too much material and hit the edge.

I just remembered a way to get even finish by hand, an eraser will deform to accomodate the shape of the blade and will give very nice even finish.

[Ivan Campos]

It is pretty easy - I start with a 220 grit from my belt grinder, and from them I can hand rub with 320 grit sandpaper using mineral oil and a hard backing like a micarta block, and repeating the process to the desired grit of sandpaper. As a final step you can use scotchbrite and it will make the blade less bright. Of course, be prepared to spend some elbow grease in the process, too! As with everything in life, it will become easier and simpler as you get more pratice.

[JMJones]

One thing to add that I had wrong when I first started knife making, you dont need to go all in one direction until the end. Now I scrub the daylights out of the blade going back and forth and also switch directions with each grit until over 600.