SATIN OR MIRROW FINISH

THIS MAY BE A DUMB QUESTION , BUT I KNOW WHAT A MIRROW FINISH IS AND HOW YOU GET THERE BUT WHAT IS A SATIN FINISH
AND HOW DO YOU GET THERE ? WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF ONE OVER THE OTHER ?
THANKS ,
LARRY

Quick and dirty "working" satin finish with a scotch brite belt. Most suppliers carry them.

Now, a "hand rubbed satin finish" is another thing. I take my blades to 15 micron or so on the belt, removing scratches just like I would for a mirror polish... minus the buff. The blade now goes back to paper, hand sanded from 400 to about 1000. Alternate directions to cover prevois grits scratches, making final direction pull the length of the blade. I now drop back to 600 grit and then a soft scotch brite pad. I end up spending anywhere from 2 to 4 hours on a hand sand. Results are nice as far as I am concerned.

I make mostly work knives with 52100 and L-6, What I would like to know, is how do you define a mirror finish and hand rubbed?

I shape blade to 600 grit on the grinder, then go to 320 grit sandpapper, 400, do an etch in ferric cloride to show temper line, then buff clean, go to 600 grit, then, if I'm makeing it shiny, buff with emry(black) compound, then white compound.

No mater what I do though, it seams there is always some fine scratches that are visible when held to a light. Not had any complaints, but is agrivating me to no end.

Am I just not working long enough with each grit, or do I need to invest in greasless compounds? Or am I just to picky?

My knives cut well, are tough and hard workers, but I still have not made one I'm satisfied with, at least the fit and finish.

Would apriate any insight anybody has.

I would take the sanding through at least 800 grit, and skip the black compound. After the white compound, try buffing with green chrome for a mirror polish.

What is most important is, when grinding, to go through the grits in small increments so each has a chance to remove the scratches left by the previous (coarser) grit. My preference for most knives is this order: 60, 120, 180, 320, 400, then heat treat. After HT, 400, 600, 1200, 2500. I use Trizact belts for the finest grits.

For what it's worth, good shop lighting is worth a lot. I still find scratches (after I think I'm finished) that have to be removed.

Larry,
I was told once that when you think your done with your hand finish spend another 15 minutes (or more) going over it. Makes a big difference.
Another thing that has helped alot with my handfinishing is to handsand with WD40 as a lubricant. The paper doesn't load up and the finish is alot more uniform.
When you get to your final grit go in one direction only, seems like it's taking forever but the end product is well worth it.
hope this helps,
Jon

Larry,

Do you flat grind or hollow gring?
Flat grind,you can alternate the direction of the polishing to help remove previous scrathes.Brownells,for one,has several different grit (greaseless) buffing compounds that work excellent.

BUT if you are a hollow grinder and are fairly good and do not want to wash your grinding lines away, go with progressively fine belts on the belt grinder.

Going for a satin finish and you want to check your progress;go up two grits/or at least where you plan on stopping and polish,check it for deep scratches.Back up if nessecary.

Mirror finish;The above steps and much more patience.If you are using wet/dry sandpaper try using light oil and see how it cuts and then see how water lets it cut.Note the difference,NOW you have a least on more grit to sand with.

Have fun.

A satin finish is for the working blade. It does not show the scratches as well as the mirror finish.
Mirror finish gets scratched up on your keys and change.
Satin finish is similar to the old Zippo lighters, just a little finer scratches.
A well prepaired mirror finish is the most beautiful way to present your work, but does not "WORK" as well as the satin.