Wondrous polishing cloths...Trizact

Wanted to share some of my excitement with you.

So, I've been playing around with various polishing cloths that can bring my knives back to pristine condition. I know some of you don't care about surface scratches and it really doesn't effect how the knife performs. But I'm anal about my stuff and like to keep my things as close to NEW as possible, especially knives. I want them to look at all times like they just came back from a Dave Martell spa.

Stay with me...

I always look forward to Jacob (Edipreks) posts because he always good for something radical/insightful/interesting. In a thread about copper pots with Matus, Jacob mentioned that he uses sandpaper to polish the insides of some of his pans, Falk in particular. What kind of crazy notion was this, using sandpaper on cookware, and in his case power tools, to polish the insides. I had to give it a try. Drum roll please....

I ordered this material called Trizact from 3M in 3K & 5K grits. Wow are do they produce an even polished scratch pattern. I'm going to mess with it on my knives next, but it made a tremendous improvement on the finish both inside and outside of my copper pots.

I like it better than micro mesh. This stuff is more akin to a very thin but tough sponge/cloth, as opposed to a gritty tear able paper. I find the foam that the MM pad are mounted on to be too firm.

just wanted to share cause I know how much we all love metal polishing minutia.

Just wanted to share.

Thumbs up!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005RNGL9O/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Very cool, I'll have to get some. Agreed about micro mesh, you really have to push down on it, for some applications, which then makes evenness more difficult.

Sweet, looking forward to the knife pics...

Works great on knives to get shiny at 1.5, 3k. The padded backing also helps when working with knives. Big fan of the automotive stuff for polishing.

Mucho Bocho said:

View attachment 25151

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Love this shot. Nice work on the pots and the photo MB!

Also apparently available in belt form.

So, can we get a bit more specific? I have over 200 copper pans. Been collecting for years. Most are tin lined heavy gauge copper. I polish the outside after use, but some dark spots just won't come out. What grit to get, and how do you polish - power tool or by hand?

Re knives, same deal except I am able to get patina out, it's the buff/shiny marks from sharpening slips, block scrapes, etc. How do you do them?

This is great - thanks!

larrybard said:

Also apparently available in belt form.

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I use some trizact belts. Very happy with them. Hold up well.

3M is making some great stuff. The results on your pans look amazing! I have been using this style belt for blade finishing for some time, with good results.

I also found they offer a couple of variations. All falling under the tag Trizact. From Gator pattern structured abrasives that last almost forever.. To the sanding paper you posted. and a few other variations. Best I can tell most have to do with the backing materials used. not as much the abrasive itself.

The grit or grade of these are different then what I am use to. They range from A300 that is approx a 80 grit. all the way down to a micro fine grit. A5 or A3 that is like 3000 to 5000

Here is what one of my suppliers says about the 3M Trizact and the way the grit or grade breaks down on these.

Details

3M™ Trizact™
An abrasive used for metal working: mill line removal, intermediate scratch refinement, consistent dimensioning, and consistent finishing applications.


Grading Chart

A300 – Like P80

A160- Like P120

A100- Like P180

A65- Like 240

A45- Like P400

A30- Like P600

A20- Like P1000

A5- Has no grade Its finer than the FEPA Grading lines.

Stay Sharp!
Randy

Bollocks...give her patina

Curious how these work on hard mono steel knives?