First mirror polish job

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Chef_

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First time trying to mirror polish a blade. I did it by hand using the micro mesh sanding pads. Its a cheap $40 ebay blade i bought for practice before doing it on my nice blades. As you can see it definitely has some mirror qualities as you can see my hand in the reflection, and its alot shinier than before(I should have done a before picture) . After sanding with a 12000 i put some bar keepers cleaner and polish on it and i put some blade oil on it and buffed it with a soft microfiber rag. But the color is still a little hazy, I want to be able to get that perfect clear Mirror shine. What do you think im doing wrong? Do i just have to sand longer next time?

 
Bar Keeper's friend has oxolic acid in it, every time I have tried to use it on carbon steel it leaves a dull finish. That may be your culprit, try Simichrome metal polish instead.
 
frog13 said:
Bar Keeper's friend has oxolic acid in it, every time I have tried to use it on carbon steel it leaves a dull finish. That may be your culprit, try Simichrome metal polish instead.
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its stainless, however even if Bar keepers had somthing to do with it, i dont think its the main culprit, as even before applying it the blade looked the same.
 
without a commercial buffer you won't get every little scratch and streak.
 
Looks like you still have grinder marks. Setting up a "base" finish for a mirror job takes some work, and practice. To get the grinder marks I'd start low grit stones or sandpaper, with sandpaper you'd want steel backing.
 
RDalman said:
Looks like you still have grinder marks. Setting up a "base" finish for a mirror job takes some work, and practice. To get the grinder marks I'd start low grit stones or sandpaper, with sandpaper you'd want steel backing.
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I started with a 1500, should i go even lower?
 
RDalman said:
Looks like you still have grinder marks. Setting up a "base" finish for a mirror job takes some work, and practice. To get the grinder marks I'd start low grit stones or sandpaper, with sandpaper you'd want steel backing.
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I didnt use a grinder though, that might be just the way the picture looks.
 
Chef_ said:
I started with a 1500, should i go even lower?
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This is really really hard to do without power equipment. You should start around 400, and (the hardest part) remove ALL marks from 400 before moving to (say) 600, remove ALL 600 marks before moving to 800, .......etc.
 
rick_english said:
This is really really hard to do without power equipment. You should start around 400, and (the hardest part) remove ALL marks from 400 before moving to (say) 600, remove ALL 600 marks before moving to 800, .......etc.
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Gotcha, and then slowly go up to 12000?
 
Is there a good resource/writeup on how to do this on stones? Can someone here who knows do that if possible? I would really like to know too.
 
Chef_ said:
Thanks for the response Jon, and would you second the recommendation of not doing it by hand ?
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you can do it by hand... thats totally fine... just know its going to take a long time and be a lot of work
 
Knifes not completely flat(usually) you cant hit the whole blade face. And to get a mirror polish scratch marks needs to be in the same direction hard to do that on stones but if its just the hagane area you definitely can.


ebay picture hosting
 
One more thing, I figure that sanding would probably be detrimental to the edge of the blade, so i should probably avoid sanding the edge?
 
I apologise, but after re-reading the thread, I'm a bit confused, so I just wanted to clarify.

Robin suggested using steel backed sandpaper or a low grit stone to remove the factory grinder marks.

Jon suggested avoiding stones.

Did I misinterpret someone? Or should I take away from this thst stones are OK to get rid of grinder marks but not for anything finer? Or am I missing a more nuanced point? Or are there several points of view here?

Robin, do you use steel backing for sandpaper just in the lower grits, or all of the way up?
 
Nemo said:
I apologise, but after re-reading the thread, I'm a bit confused, so I just wanted to clarify.

Robin suggested using steel backed sandpaper or a low grit stone to remove the factory grinder marks.

Jon suggested avoiding stones.

Did I misinterpret someone? Or should I take away from this thst stones are OK to get rid of grinder marks but not for anything finer? Or am I missing a more nuanced point? Or are there several points of view here?

Robin, do you use steel backing for sandpaper just in the lower grits, or all of the way up?
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im not sure where stones came in to this conversation. I think i got threadjacked.
 
Sorry, not trying to threadjack, just trying to clarify. Robin's first post (post #5) mentions low grit stones or sandpaper.
 
Nemo said:
Sorry, not trying to threadjack, just trying to clarify. Robin's first post (post #5) mentions low grit stones or sandpaper.
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I remember that post. But i think the majority consensus was that stones are a no-go. Thats what mr.Broida said himself.
 
Sorry, I thought it was a reasonable point to clarify. However, it appears to have upset you, so I will apologise and refrain from further posting on this thread.
 
Small hand held stones like EDM stones =ok
Benchstones=ok for wide bevels, not ok for fully ground
 
Watch hand sanding 101 by nick wheeler on youtube for some good technique tips. I use handheld edm stones yes, to transfer from the grinder to a base hand finish. Just keep in mind no tool is "foolproof", there's always a bit of trial and error and finding what works for you.
 
TB_London said:
Small hand held stones like EDM stones =ok
Benchstones=ok for wide bevels, not ok for fully ground
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this... the sides of knives are rarely flat, so using a flat stone wont yield good results, and even if the sides are well ground, if they arent flat, it will be hard to get a smooth looking finish. Small, hand held stones or finger stones can work sometimes, but sandpaer, buffing wheels, etc. are often the best.
 
Nemo said:
Sorry, I thought it was a reasonable point to clarify. However, it appears to have upset you, so I will apologise and refrain from further posting on this thread.
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nah its all good, didnt mean to come off rude. no worries.
 
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