I'm very new to this so please excuse my ignorance. However, I'm at wit's end here...

I'm currently working on my first knife and I've done some fairly intricate filwork on the spine and tang. While the outer surfaces remain clean, however, the areas that have been filed out are quite rough and ugly.

I've considered using thin strips of sandpaper, held taut with my hands, to smooth the interior surfaces, but am hesitant to do so for risk that I round the edges of the cuts in doing so (I want to have nice, well-defined edges on my work).

So how do you guys do it? Any insights would be much appreciated.

-Derrick

Derrick- Here's what I do; others may have a different approach.

If I used a 1/8" diameter file to do the initial work, I wrap a piece of 1/8" diameter brass rod (which, by the way, can be shaped to mimic the cross section of any files that you use) with 400 grit wet-or-dry paper. I go over the original work using this tool, followed by successively finer grits, then heat treat.

After HT, the same method can be used (starting with a much finer grit) to remove any discoloration.

Thanks Don

However, my main problem is getting into the real small areas. There are some spaces so small that you can barely fit a piece of sandpaper in there, let alone an 1/8" rod.

I guess what I need is a fine abrasive on a stiff, thin backing.

If the material you filled is steel maybe you can fill your files with brass and go back over them again(filling the file with brass should cut the aggressiveness of the file and smooth up the cut some).

Note: Once you do this and clean the file back up it will lose some of it's bite for good.Two sets of files are handy(one for brass and one for steel).


Hope this helps.:) Let us see it when you are through if you can.

After H/T, diamond jewlers files can get those tiny spots.
Use a water based lubrication with VERY light strokes.

MSC industrial supply has abrasive strips and cords you can use for getting into tight spaces as well as polishing stones and other stuff.
I use toolmakers polishing stones, the resin bonded stones can be shaped with a silicon carbide grinding wheel to any size or shape you need and they're fairly rugged. For polishing mold cavities I have an electric engraver I mount a small piece of diamond file to and use it to polish slots and small details I can't reach any other way.

Artco (American Rotory Tools Co.) or Geshwin (?) tools carry all sort of polishing equipment for tool and die and mold finishing. Those kind of stones and tools are made for working on hardened steel so they work perfect for knife steel.
Another idea would be to buy a diamond plated sharpening block and cutting it up to make diamond files to fit your needs. The backing material on the blocks is usually soft steel and the diamond surface can be bent some to fit in wierd places if you need to.

Moldy (as in Plastic Injection Moldmaker)

Great responses guys - this is EXACTLY the sort of info I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Hey Wulf!

Nice to see you in here... still plugging away on that knife!

Glad to hear it, Sir Loose! You keep working and I'll keep *not* bugging you ;) - keep those creative juices flowing! By the way - I really like the handle configuration on that new piece - very nice, clean work.