Hand-Rubbed Finish

[Marko Tsourkan]

I haven't really done much hand-finishign in the past, so this was just a guess. I have Norax polishing belts X65, X45 and X30, but nothing finer, so I stop at about 320 grit. I know that one has to drop one level down on sand paper so I figured start with 220, then 320, 600 and either stop there or go to 1200. I do most of the grinding with 60 grit belt and some of those scratches are deep, and hard to remove.

How do you guys avoid overpolighing the edge of the heel? A friend suggest I hand-sand with tip facing me.

Thanks for your response. This is a new territory for me.

M

[RRLOVER]

I thought 30x was 600 grit. Any way I pull sand from the heel to the tip in one direction.But I am going from 5x belt to 2k hand sanding.

[Marko Tsourkan]

30 micron is about 320 grit equivalent. 5 micron is about 1200 equivalent, so yes, you can jump to 1000 grit from 5 micron.
In the past, heel to tip would always result in a shiny edge on the heel, so I am going to try tip to heel this time.

M

[PierreRodrigue]

I use a Micarta triangle shaped pushed stick. The hard back prevents rounding edges.

[RRLOVER]

30 micron is about 320 grit equivalent. 5 micron is about 1200 equivalent, so yes, you can jump to 1000 grit from 5 micron.
In the past, heel to tip would always result in a shiny edge on the heel, so I am going to try tip to heel this time.

M

My receipt from tru grit is saying a 30x gator is 600 grit,I guess I better look in to this.

[Bill Burke]

My receipt from tru grit is saying a 30x gator is 600 grit,I guess I better look in to this.

yep mine to. they also tell me that x5 is 3000 grit. I finish my knives to x5 or x4 and then drop back to 1000 grit to hand finish. my knives are usually sharp enough to shave with when the come off the grinder. one way to keep from cutting yourself is to use a board that is just wider than your knife for backing then keep the edge just behind the board.

[Marko Tsourkan]

Opps... Maybe I am off. I got it from here:
http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/conversion.htm
and here:
http://www.reade.com/Sieve/grit_conversion.html

but then here it is more along the line you guys were told:
http://www.faceters.com/askjeff/answer67.shtml

Go figure.

[RRLOVER]

Opps... Maybe I am off. I got it from here:
http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/conversion.htm
and here:
http://www.reade.com/Sieve/grit_conversion.html

but then here it is more along the line you guys were told:
http://www.faceters.com/askjeff/answer67.shtml

Go figure.

When looked in to it I found three answers too.

[Marko Tsourkan]

When looked in to it I found three answers too.

If you look at micromesh numbers, they see to be very similar to those TruGrit provides with finishing belts. Perhaps that might be the answer, though Micromesh MX (for finishing steel) is more along the line of typical sandpaper grits.

Norax A30 (or X30, don't remember) scratches seem to fall into 320-400 grit than 600, but I am drawing it form y limited experience.

M

[l r harner]

one nice thing about the gator belts is they dont often leave "big scratches" more often the not you are seeing a scratch for a lower grit belt that you jsut didnt get out before handsanding