How do I get a mirror finish on Stainless

Alexplainlater

New Member
In the process of finishing up a knife and was wondering how to get a mirror finish on it. What order/grit of sanding and buffing do I need to do?
 
I use a series of belts and then buff. Using the platen and work rest on my KMG, I finish the flats of the knife that will be exposed with 60 then 120 grit Blaze belts, then 100, 65, 45, and 15 micron Norax. The six grits of belts are then repeated with the contact wheel in the grinds. I finish the back of the knife against the contact wheel, typically using 120 grit, 45 micron then 15 micron as it's a very narrow area and goes fast. Then I buff with a coarse sisal wheel with white compound, then again briefly with green compound on a cotton buff. If I do my part and chase all the scratches from each grit to the next, I can achieve a full mirror finish on CPM154CM and 440C stainless steels.
 
I belt grind to 220 grit, then go to hand sanding from there using a flat sanding stick to backup the paper. I go up through the grits to 2000 grit, and use WD40 as a lube while sanding. As I progress up the grits I change from sanding the blade lengthwise then across then lengthwise and so on, ending with 2000 grit lengthwise. Then lightly buff with a sewn buff, and green chrome compound, and then a loose buff with pink compound. The important thing is to get all the scratches from the previous grit out before moving on.
Hope this helps. Dale
 
What kind of stainless? If you are trying to mirror polish S30V, all you will get is bald. For low or no vanadium steels, the above advice is great.
 
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I use a blaze 40, then 120Then to Norax 100x, 65x, 45 or 30x, 16x and finish with a 5x. Each previous scratch pattern has to be complelely gone before moving on. I finish with a green chrome buff for a minute or so mostly to give the steel a nice blue color.
 
I use a blaze 40, then 120Then to Norax 100x, 65x, 45 or 30x, 16x and finish with a 5x. Each previous scratch pattern has to be complelely gone before moving on. I finish with a green chrome buff for a minute or so mostly to give the steel a nice blue color.



That just sounds so easy. I have tried everything , but its just almost impossible for me to remove all the scratches from stainless steel. Sometimes i can get one to work out for me.Scott
 
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