Great topic... I will be watching this one. I really struggle with this.

I start hand finish after a belt finish to 400. Then start with Mirka Gold in sticky back rolls at 220 at an angle to the length of the blade followed by 400 the length of the blade. Next I go to Norton Black Ice 9 x 11 sheets cut to 2.25" strips, sanding alternating directions 600 thru 2,000 grit. My lube for this process was Windex which has been replaced by Mobil One 5w20 sync oil. It keeps the surface of the sandpaper from clogging and floats the grindings creating a very nice satin finish. If I want a mirror finish I now go to a cork belt load with Koyo Green, a little Mobil One on the belt of my grinder. I follow this with a felt belt and simichrome fine polishing cream. Final step wash the blade with dish washing soap, oil with gun oil to displace the water, and provide rust protection.

I too use different sanding block I have made from micrata and pondo, wood, metal rod covered with hose, and plastic. Will add photos when I get home.

My key thing is using the Mobil One, a couple of drops at a time, sand, wipe it off add more keep, sanding till you get what you want. Sandpaper lasts a lot longer when using it to. I pour some in a 4 oz bottle to work from. Done about 8 medium knives only used about 1.5 oz of it. A little goes long way.

Edit to add photo. Background surface is a large piece of granite I stick sandpaper to for sanding, to true my flats. Got it from a kitchen countertop contractor. Came from a sink cut out - $20, 18"x24" with finished & polished top, and sides.

Black block is micarta with pondo rubber on one side, as Jason Knight showed in his Demo at the 2011 October Hammer-In in NC. I have 3 or 4 of them laying around the shop in different sizes.

Great topic!

First, my setup:

I've taken a piece of 1"x3"x24" yellow heart and cut one end into a broad "spear point." I use one C-clamp to secure that to my work bench, and then another to secure my blade to the board, usually by the tang, which I'll sandwich in two little squares of gasket rubber. I surface the sanding board with several layers of duct tape. The tape provides some give and cushion, and it serves as a disposable backing. I swap out the tape after each grit in order to eliminate the possibility of the blade rubbing against grit particles as I'm sanding it.

My sanding stick is a 1"x1/2"x6" piece of lignum vitae, with very square corners. I rip off a strip of sand paper (typically 2-3" wide, depending on the width of the blade, and which direction I'll be sanding), and lay that grit-down on my leg. Then I roll my sanding stick as tightly as possible into the paper, using the grit against my pants almost like velcro to provide a bit of tension. I just rip off once facet after another as the paper dulls.

NOTE: I have discovered a sand paper that is EPIC in its capabilities. It is Sungold Abrasives' 220 grit. I get it at Woodcraft. I can take a 10" bowie blade from 80 grit to a smooth, even 220 in maybe 20 minutes, generally using a single 3" strip of paper. It is ridiculously effective, and it looks significantly finer than the average 220 finish--blind tests generally leave people guessing that it's 320 or 400. For whatever reason, the 220 is just the best. The 180 is no good, the 240 is no good. Just the 220.

Anyway, once the blade is secured on my sanding board--with the tip of the blade conforming generally to one side of the spear point board--I sand lengthwise with the 220. This is where my process differs a little from some others': I used to sand lengthwise with 220, then at a 45 with 400, then lengthwise with 600, then at a 45 with 800, etc. But I've always found sanding on the 45 degree angle to be awkward and uncomfortable. So I've recently modified my process. Once I've done the 220 lengthwise, I use the SAME grit and go diagonally, on the 45, until I've got scratches going that way over the whole surface. Then for the next grit, I come back in longitudinally and work until all of the 45 degree 220 scratches are gone. The trick is to make sure your 45 scratches are as deep as the original longitudinal ones. I find that, even with this short added step--maybe 2-5 minutes per grit, per side, being able to do all of the major scratch removal length-wise is massively more efficient.

I use WD-40 as my lubricant from 400 grit on up. It suspends the particles and makes a beautiful slurry that aids in the process. Even after the paper has eventually loaded up, the slurry will continue to work for a long time. In the interest of preserving the slurry, I never wipe the blade off, except for when I need to examine the finish. The slurry will eventually "dry up" as more dust is added from the abrasion, but when that happens I simply add a few more drops of WD-40.

I keep WD-40 in two containers: 1) an empty tuna can, for when I'm using stones rather than paper, and 2) a small pistol oiler. The spray can that the stuff comes in is too messy and spritzes lubricant all over. The pistol oiler just deposits it on the surface.

I usually finish a blade out to 120 on the grinder, then start in with that 220 grit paper. Then it's 400 straight/45, 600 straight/45, 800 straight/45, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500. I don't often go up to 2500, but I nearly always do at least 800, and I prefer 1200.

When I'm satisfied with the result, I use a couple more drops of WD-40 to protect the blade from rust (which is exactly what the product was developed to do).

Note on sequence: unless there are special circumstances, I always always always ALWAYS build and finish the handle before polishing the blade. It just allows much more flexibility and can save real heartache as you work the handle.

I'm sure I've missed something, but them's the broad strokes.

zack

[Brion--I like the simplicity of your approach. I'm surprised you are able to go from 220-320-400-600...I have found, in my limited experience, that if I skip grits I end up taking lots of time to get the rougher scratches out. I like the idea of using fewer grits--right now I have quite the collection.]

I don't have a belt grinder, so I get my knives filed to shape (I also use the flats of a bench grinder with some success), and then start at 80 grit (which takes a long time on some file marks--I need to work on my filing skills and clean the files out more frequently when working) and work my way up, switching from lengthwise to 90 degrees with each change in grit: 60-80-100-120-150-180-220. I'm going to start doing the 45 degree thing--that seems to be a common practice. Then I harden and temper, and then start at 220 again and work up to 500 or 600 (I stop in that range with whichever grit ends up going lenghwise).

I hope to start using salts soon--from what I understand, I'll be able to sand to 500-600 before hardening, which should make the hand-work go faster.

I go to 2000 on the tops and the bottom of the ricasso--I like the contrast.

I'm just using whichever paper I can find, at this point (mostly "Truper"), but I look forward to trying some of the paper people have suggested in this thread. I've heard good things about the red rhinowet paper too.

Thanks for starting this topic--interesting to see what people do.

Steve

I use Gator wet/dry sandpaper for grits 220 and 320 and then I use 3-M Imperial, wet/dry for the rest of my grits. I can go from 220 to 320 to 600 to 1500 to 2500, no problem and I find that when I use any other grits in-between it just adds finish time with no better results on the finished product.

I finish grind my blades at 220 or 320 most of the time and start hand sanding with 220 grit. I pipe clamp my blade onto a 2x4 that’s clamped into my vice. The whole blade can then rest on the 2x4 and I don’t have any of the blade sticking out. That keeps me from impaling myself. I start with 220 strip about 1 ½ inches wide (I make most all my strips between 1 and 2 inches wide for any given grit), wrapped around a file that’s about an inch wide and I’ll use that in the plunge cuts and around the tip. I then wrap a strip of 220 around a bar of 416 stainless steel that’s 12 x 1 ¼ x 3/8 inches thick and sand at about a 20 to 30 (ish) degree angle. Then for 320 I use a 416 stainless bar (note that your bars MUST be made of 416 stainless steel or else this method will NOT work................................................ just kidding, anything solid will work!) that’s 1 x 12 x 1/8 inches thick with a rounded face which allows me to “work” selective areas of my plunge cuts and once those are cleaned up I use a wood backer that I wrap my paper around and it measures something like ¾ x ¾ x 8 ish. I do the 320 grit at 20 to 30 degrees reversed from the 220 grit. Then I sand my ricasso flats with 600 using a ½ inch wide file as a backer and I do not wrap it around it, I just place and hold a strip under it. I surface grind my ricasso and it leaves a nice finish so I can start out with 600 grit on it (love it).

Now, for carbon blades that will have a 600 grit finish I will now sand my plunge cuts to 600 and then one grit higher (1500) and that makes it so they just shimmer a little more in bright light and it also insures that all my lines will be straight when I come in with the final passes on the 600 grit finish and there won’t be any unwanted leftover angled lines (thank you John White!). So then I just go lengthwise on the blade with 600 and I don’t worry about going the entire length of the blade with each stroke because I take care of all the hook marks in the next step. All I am doing is getting rid of the 320 grit marks at this point. (So far I’ve used water on the 220 and 320 grits as lubrication and off brand WD-40 on the 600 and up.) Then once that’s done I use a bar of steel that’s got some hard rubber on the bottom of it and start @ the plunge cuts in front of the ricasso and sweep all the way down through the tip, pulling smooth and steady so all the lines are uniform. I use Windex on the final passes. Everything is the same for higher grit finishes only I go from 600 to 1500 to 2500. I finish my damascus out before I etch it to 1000 grit. I only go lengthwise with the blade on my last grit, otherwise it’s alwas at opposite 20 to 30 degree angles.

Well, that’s the quick rundown of how I do it and what works for me. Thanks for letting me share and thanks for sharing your ways to do it fellas!

K~Royer~over and out for tonight…

Say fellas, I presume all these finish techniques are rendered post heat treat. What condition of finish are your blades when you go to heat treat them?

Good question Phil.

I take my blades to 120, then hit them with some 220 paper (longitudinally). I stamp my blades, and in the interest of applying as little abrasion as possible afterwards, I usually take the ricasso up to 600. I usually find that I can start right back in with 600 after heat treat. That way I don't end up rubbing out my mark.

Yes, all mine is done post heat treating. My blades have a 50 grit finish before heat treat. I do very little grinding before heat treating, like 30% of the blade bevels and the rest after on most knives.

I go to heat treat with a 400 grit finish. The above process is post heat treat thru final polish. I shape my guards and handle before HT and only attacth them after HT. Needing to only touch them up and do final poliching after the blade finish is complete. Then I engrave my blade mark and sharpen.

Added photo to above post.

The method I use is similar to ones described above. After HT, I grind to 220 with a belt then hand sand starting 220, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 2000. For hand finished working blade, I like a 600 grit finish. What ever finish I am going to, I always go one step further and go back. so for a 600 grit finish, I will go to 800 grit and do my final sanding at 600.

Something that I do differently for the ricasso is that I will take it to 400 grit prior to heat treating. After this, I file in my shoulders. During HT, the ricasso area is protected by Brownells non scale compound. The reason for this is that I engrave my name in the ricasso so I do not have much material I can remove after HT without removing my name. The other reason is that I can go straight to 400 grit after HT on the ricasso area. This is done with the sand paper glued to a flat plate and the the blade is moved across the paper in only one direction with the shoulders always trailing. By doing this, you will not round the crisp corners on the shoulders and your fit will be great.

Brian

|quoted:

What ever finish I am going to, I always go one step further and go back. so for a 600 grit finish, I will go to 800 grit and do my final sanding at 600.

I do this as well. I think of it almost as putting on a coat of primer before applying the finish coat.

OK, fellas <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> ,

This may seem like a fundamental question, but I've been wondering for some time now...How much pressure do you all apply when hand finishing? Is it a very light pressure with all the work being in the rubbing (back & forth)? Or, do you use very hard downward pressure, or somewhere in between? What works best, or most efficiently, and provides the best results?

Well Ed, I find that my pressure varies with the grit I use. I use a pretty good amount of pressure at 220. Consider this the foundation polish, like a Japanese sword polisher. You are setting the foundation for later grits. About the same pressure for 320, then a little less for 400, and so on. The final polish at 600, after a polish at 800, is full length with a light pressure. I am not really trying to remove a lot of metal at this stage, just refining the scratch marks, no fish hooks, etc.

One thing I will mention is very good lighting at your polishing area. You need bright light from different directions in order to see all your marks. I have three lights over my area, two flourescents and a daylight lamp. Two are movable, to position light where I want it. One little trick is to go inside after you finish you final grit and sit facing the television. Play the tv light down the flats of the blade. Any flaws will stand out like a sore thumb. If you see any then it is back to hand rubbing.

Brion

I once tried to use a WD-40 type of lubricant while I was hand sanding. It is called loosey goosey and it didn't matter how much pressure I put on my sander it just seemed to slide off. It was so good that I now coat some of my knife blades in that stuff. But I wont spray it on any while I'm hand sanding. I ended up having to clean off the blade with soapy water and change out my sanding paper.