"Hand Rubbed" - how do YOU do it?

J S Machine

J S Machine

Well-Known Member
I've done this on a couple of knives, but I find it rather difficult due to the hardness of the steel. I'm trying to get some tricks together to do this, because it seems very appealing on finished knives in some cases.

The only way that I have done this is as follows. I don't have a belt grinder yet (like a cootes or KMG) so I don't have the luxury of putting a really fine belt finish on my blades. To hollow grind, I've been using something from harbor freight and it does a decent job but it leaves alot ot be desired :) It is an angle grinder with a right angle gear box and a gear reduced slow turning rock. The rock is about 1.5" wide and turns about 100 RPM give or take. It has a water catch up under it so you can run the wheel with water.

This thing does a decent job, but it is very very slow. It may take me 3-4 hours to do a hollow grind on both sides of a 4-5" blade. I usually do this before heat treat and leave a little stock, and then when it comes out I finish it. It leaves a decent finish on the grind, but nothing i would send out of the shop. I usually blast it after this and it seams to look alot better.

The question is, when you guys are hand rubbing these finishes - I'm assuming using progressively finer sandpaper, do you do everything after heat treat, or do you work it up to 1200-1500 before heat treat and finish after? The one that I did was extremely hard to do because of the hardness of the steel. Is this just part of the game or is there a way around it?

I'd like to do some hand rubbed finishes, but I want them to look presentable and I could use a few tips.

Thanks
 
I do flat and convex grinds, but I too am limited in my equipment. I do as much as I can before HT. So, I'll usually go to 320 or so by hand.
 
I'm new at this my self I also use A 40 dollar belt grinder from harbor fright. I'll pass along what I have learned from some on this site. The belts I use from harbor fright or 120 grit. all I can do on my grinder is flat grinds but after grinding on the grinder I step back down to 80 grit to start hand finishing. On my first two knives I spent probably 15 to 20 hrs hand sanding and was not really happy with the finish. The knife I'm working on now I spent maybe 4 hrs sanding on and it is to 400 grit and better than the first two. The "trick" was to coat the blade with mobile 1 oil. then I wraped a sanding block with 80 grit and sanded back and forth length wise of the blade untill all the scratches from the grinder were gone. Then I washed the blade and recoated with mobile 1 and started sanding across the blade with 120 grit paper untill all 80 grit scratches were gone.as you go from one grit to the next switch your sanding direction. I take mine to 400 grit before heat treating and after heat treating work my way up to what ever grit finish that I want. On the knife I'm working on now I will take it to 1000 grit and then switch back to 600 grit and sand in one direction the length of the blade for a satin finish. The mobile 1 oil suspends the sanding grit allowing you to get the scratches out with less work. remember mobile 1 not any other I tried penzoil because that is what I had it did not give the results I had read about on here. Then tried mobile 1 and presto there it was. I dont know how to post up links to different threads but James Terrio pointed me to a thread on here that explains it. I'm sure some one will come along shortly that can offer more advise but hope this helps
 
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Ok I went back and did some looking go to the Knife dogs main forum there is a thread titled Satin Finish it has 14 pages of post and is worth reading this is the thread that James Terrio sent me the link for. Also under New to knife making there is a thread that I started titled Hand finishing and you can read the reply that I received hope this helps

Rodney
 
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Rodney's finishing thread

Satin finish thread with Mobil 1 info

Guys, to post a link just do this:

1) Open the page you want and copy the whole address from the bar at the top of the page ("http://blah blah blah")
2) Type in your reply to thread normally
3) Left click and highlight the relevant portion (like "Rodney's Finishing thread" above, for instance)
4) Click on the icon that looks like Earth with a paper-clip or something across it, that will open a mini-window.
5) Paste the address you copied in that mini window, click "OK" and the software will take insert it into your reply.
6) Submit your reply normally

Sounds like a lot of steps but once you do it a couple times it will become second nature :)
 
I will definitely give the mobil 1 idea a try. I run mobil one in my Vette, so I have some 5w-30 at home. I replied to the long thread listed above with my thoughts on grades and how they may affect the ease of use.

Thanks a bunch guys.
 
RodneyJ said:
all I can do on my grinder is flat grinds but after grinding on the grinder I step back down to 80 grit to start hand finishing.
Click to expand...

I'm still working with an inadequate 4x36 machine, and the way RodneyJ describes above is the best way I've found. My process is the same as his, and while I'm not a great knifemaker, the blades look much better using this process.

JLaw
 
Since you don't have a lot of machinery, do as much as you can before HT and it will save you time. Here is what I typically do:
1. Machine sand to 400 before HT
2. After HT back on the grinder starting at 120-240-400
3. Hand sand 220-320-400-600-1000-1200

I use the Mobil One for a lubricant and find it helps (at least in my mind).
I do mostly flat grinds so I use an old file with "taped handles" at both ends and then wrap a 3-4" piece of paper around the file so I can really bear down if needed.
If you are doing a damascus blade that you are going to etch, or a "user" 600 is enough. If you are working on something where you want a finer finish you can go all the way up to 2500.
Change direction when your are sanding when you switch grits and don't go up to the next grit until all the previous scratches are gone. If you think you are done with a grit, unless you have excellent, multi-source lighting in your shop, stop! Take the blade and wipe it off. Take it to another room, take it outside, look at it under a variety of lights. If you can't see any more scratches, now go on to your next grit. Failure to do this could lead to finding the time to do it over. It has been my experience that the strange combination of lighting used in hotel ballrooms, cowbarns and convention centers (where knife shows are held) has the ability to show scratches seen no where else.
It has also been my experience that you will spend more time and sandpaper at the lower grits (I spend a lot of time at 220 and 320) and then the higher grits go faster.

Just my way, hope it helps.
 
Buying a plain old 3m hard rubber sanding block at your local Home Depot is never a bad thing.
 
Just wanted everyone to know that I tried the oil trick last night and it worked great. I was going to wet sand (with water) the blades I'm working on down to 400 grit and do the oil thing after heat treat. I grew tired of no progress with water quickly, so I switched to oil. I didn't have any Mobil 1 on the shelf, but I did have some Royal Purple. It's a synthetic race oil. I used some of this, and it easily cut my sanding time by about 1/3 and really saved my paper. Very well worth it and thanks to all who suggested it. I haven't done one yet after heat treat. I expect it to be a little harder but the oil absolutely helped! It looks good too, even at 400.
 
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