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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 01-13-2014, 09:31 AM
Whipster Whipster is offline
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A quick question about blade finishes...

I just cleaned up a CPM 154CM blade after heat treat, hand-sanding the ricasso and blade flats with 400 grit paper, and finishing the bevels with a Trizact A65 belt. The blade looks good, but I'm noticing that almost anything that touches the blade wants to leave scratch and swirl marks... is this normal?

I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should look into tumbling the finished blade, or just stop at a 120 to 220 grit finish!
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:01 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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No matter what you do any blade finish will be affected by anything that touches it. The best you can do is a satin finish because it shows less than most.

To get a satin finish the first thing to do is stop finishing before the blade starts getting shiny. Shininess shows off scratches. I usually finish with a fresh piece of 400 grit paper pulled one way down the blade one time....then get a fresh piece an do it again until the desired finish is achieved. If you use the paper too much it wears off the grit and it starts to polish.

After the sanding, you can try a ScotchBrite belt or pad if you like. Then I wax it with Ren Wax which evens out the finish (as well as making finger prints easy to remove).

Shininess is the enemy ....


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Old 01-13-2014, 02:07 PM
Jim T Jim T is offline
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Do you buff the blade at all, Ray? - Jim T
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Old 01-13-2014, 03:11 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Absolutely not! Buffing makes shiny, shiny is the enemy if you want a finish that is at least moderately resistant to light scratches. It still scratches, it just doesn't show as much....


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Old 01-15-2014, 07:14 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Shininess is the enemy ...

Amen to that!
Nothing like having a "shiny" on your table and some dirty hand decides to rub his finger across the surface. I haven't done shiny in many, many years, never cared for it much anyway. A knife that gets used doesn't stay shiny.


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154cm, blade, easy, finish grit scratch, hand, heat, heat treat, knife, making, polish, satin finish, scratch, surface, wax


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