Finish and Polish for Knives

I finally bit the bullet and ordered my first 2x72 Grinder. I am getting ready to place my first order for belts and this is the list of belts I was thinking of. I would like to get some other opinions and see if anyone has any thoughts about additions or subtractions I should make. Quantity Manufacturer Part # Grit Weight Description 3 VSM AK890Y 36 Y Actirox Ceramic 10 VSM 60 XK885Y 60 Y Ceramic + …

Hi all. I would like to use crabapple wood to make the handle of a knife (for sentimental reasons). I will be able to cut a branch from the live tree. Where would you all look for accurate information on how thick a branch I would need, if I should cut the branch lengthwise before drying it, and how to dry it effectively and reasonably quickly as a DIYer.

I will be the first to admit that I am not a bladesmith. I am a blacksmith, but I wanted to make a vegetable knife for a travel kit. now, having never made a knife, I come upon the question of finishing the handle. I have searched without luck to understand precisely how to cut handle scales from raw seasoned lumber, and once cut, how to pin and finish without epoxy. i would like to do this all without “modern” adhesives, if possible. my thought is simply to take a length of seasoned locust, cut it into rectangles, then drill and use a small diameter copper rod/rivet to attach the scales together, then sand and shape and finish with mineral oil. is …

I'm trying to etch and failing miserably. No matter what the magnificent damascus design is gone by finish. I've done over 10 etched on same blade and getting frustrated. I used fc, but I don't understand and will not buy or use it again. I started using vinegar and boiled the metal in it about 6 hours total. This didn't work several times. I heard to add salt and soap, but nothing. Finally I saw something that said hydrogen peroxide. This was the first stuff I could see bubbling. When do you stop toothbrushing oxides because it can erase the lines. It starts a nice darker color with white cracks but then it all disappears. I have have tried many many combinations of t…

Working on a sword blade, and I wanted to run some fuller. Since I have never done that before, I wasn't 100% sure how. I don't have any stages or fullering tools, so I opted for grinding in. However.... my option were an underpowered belt sander, or an angle grinder. I didn't want to OOPS and destroy a project with the angle grinder, so, I started with a dremel, cut a start groove, moved onto a stone grinding tip, then a sanding tip. Once the fuller was significantly large/straight/deep enough, I needed to find a way to expand it, but still maintain control.... so, I built a tool. It runs in a cordless drill chuck, and I can control/apply pressure with my off…

I'm doing my first round of scale processing, using a half gallon of cactus juice. I was wondering, does anyone know if there are alternatives for hardeners/resins that cost less than this product that do the job just as well (or perhaps even better?) It seems to be very popular. I'm using a vacuum for infusing and oven for curing process. I have several maple burls and some spalted maple and some other spalted wood I need to stabilize.

What did I do wrong? I'm trying to bring out my first hamon. After hand sanding it up to an 800 grit finish I submerged it in the FeCl, a total of three 10 (ish) minute soaks, with a 0000 steel wool scrub between each. After the final soak I neutralized with baking soda and then scrubbed with dish soap and water. The knife was now rough to the touch. I began sanding at 800 grit again but to get the knife to feel smooth again, I had to basically sand past all of the activity the etch brought out, while other areas just wouldn't seem to polish up at all. The hamon in particular seemed like a never ending source of oxide streaks, despite being nearly as faint as it was …

Hello All, I have some Ferric Chloride laying around from my previous work with PCB etching. So yesterday i came to know that Knifes can be etched too. I watched couple of video on YouTube and saw the patters on the knife and tried it on my stainless steel knife that i bought from a grocery store. Not taking care of the ratios of water to etching solution, i dipped it for a minute and the whole knife turned black. I pre-treated it by cleaning with soap water and then with isopropyl alcohol. Should i had to heat treat it or maybe sand it ? to get a pattern. The patter i was after is not anything fancy or done with stickers. Is there pattern that form naturally af…

Hey guys its been a long time since I posted last and I am looking for someone in the Pittsburgh Pa area that has experience repairing and working with saya's for Japanese blades. I dont have a shop set up at this time, since I am planning on going back to Oregon shortly. But I am willing to pay of course.

I'm a young hobbyist bladesmith and am unable to afford a decent 2x72 belt sander, so right now I am forced to use a small 1x30 belt sander or angle grinder. I was wondering if anyone would have any tips on using these machines to grind bevels or finish blades? I am also new to this forum so I apologize if this is posted in the wrong place, feel free to correct me if that is the case.

I apologize in advance because I think this is the wrong place for this post. I need to replace my old, old combination Carborundum bench stone. I see so may types of stones available that my head is spinning. Would prefer a combination stone about eight inches long in the range of twenty to thirty dollars. I would appreciate any advice as to what material (silicon carbide, green silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, etc. ) would be a good choice.

i have tried to solder on guards and have failed miserably it sucks to put all of that time into what could be a cool knife and then get to the guard and hit a complete wall.

Hello all. I am interested in using bone for knife handles and need some advice on how to prepare bone for use. If I start with raw bone do I need to cook it and then stabalize it before use as handle material on a knife?? Thank

I started using (cold) mink oil to treat two knife sheaths, fitted to the knives, and allowed to dry for 2 days. After I put the knives in them (overnight) I found that the the finish on the handles had softened so I could scrape it off with my fingernail and felt tacky everywhere it had come into contact with the sheath. If left out of the sheath, it hardens back up in a day or two. One knife had 5-6 coats of Tru-oil, cured for over a week and was rock hard. The other knife was treated with several coats of boiled linseed oil. I use vegetable tanned cow belly leather. I had been treating the sheaths with hot beeswax, and never had a problem. Has an…

It seems there are all kinds of options for what material to use for handle scales. For wood, I get the gist that iron wood seems to be a favorite with some very close contenders. I have a rather large log of cherry that I have had laying around for years (always inside) that I had initially wanted to make a small table top out of, but alas, that project never panned out for various reasons. Would cherry be an acceptable material for handle scales? If so, would being un-stabilized be ok since cherry is fairly hard and naturally resistant (at least I remember cherry being quite resistant to damage/wear and tear). Would be nice to finally put this log to use, although …

So I have a knife I'm making (what a shock) and I plan to use some red wood that I found to make the handle. I don't have the equipment to stabilized the wood and I know that moisture and such will cause the wood to warp if it's not stabilized. My question is, if I use linseed oil on the wood, will it protect the wood from absorbing excess moisture and warping? Alternatively, is there any way that I can stabilize the wood without having to make some elaborate vacuum chamber? Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading. - Novak

*note: I figured this would be the place to post this but if it needs to be moved, sorry* So I've been forging for a little bit now, and due to financial constraints, I have been mainly doing all my grinding and whatnot by hand with files and sandpaper, and only with the last year or so bought myself a small bench sander. I've been using files for a long time, but with the files I have, I've found that the process of filing a blade down and smoothing it out can be quite a tedious task. Then I discovered the sen knife. For those who don't know, a sen knife is an old Japanese (from what I know) tool, which I can best describe as a thick drawknife for metal instead…

So, I’m hand sanding a blade for the first time. So far so good, but the area around the plunge grind is giving me fits as far as making all the lines even. Any advice on how to finish out sanding around this area? Thanks in advance.

So I've read through here a few times but I can't seem to find the answer to my question, so, what sort of etch/finish should I use for blades and knives that will prevent rusting but also not ruin the heat treatment? Also, if anyone can tell me how to blacken blades that would be appreciated, as well as if anyone has any information on russeting. Thanks in advance.

I'm in Portland Oregon and I've been wanting to emulate a specific style of tsuchime / hammered finish I see on Shun's premier knives. I see a lot of unappealing tsuchime jobs but I love the way Shun is doing it. Specifically I like the deep, pronounced hammer marks with lots of overlap blending together. I just can't figure out exactly how they accomplish it. I think they are done mostly by hand because I see a lot of variation in the hammer marks between knives. I assume they are using a top/bottom set of ball peens simultaneously to keep it from flattening out. Does anyone have experience using dies with arrays of multiple ball peens? I was considering welding a cluste…

First off, sorry if this is the wrong section of the forum to ask this but it seemed most fitting. So, on to my question/ idea.... I have been tempted recently to try to make my own sharpening stones from local stone in my town or the area around it. While im not under the impression ill find some super amazing stone that will replace my tried and true ones I currently use, what should I look for to have a chance at a useable stone? And if it helps, I am in southern rhode island.

I imagine a few of us here have some high grit stones for sharpening and polishing and with me being the DIY nut that I am, I've been wondering if I could make my own honing stones, I have used basalt rocks that I just picked up off the ground, dipped in water and got a decent edge with it after using my synthetic no name stone. So naturally I started thinking about how I could improve this but I'm no rock expert, atleast not the mineral type but I know about some rock types found in Iceland, like Jasper, Basalt, some kind of sandstone, what I believe is Catlinite, Dolerite, quartz and Gabbro, has anyone here made or heard of these stones being useful for sharpening? I'm …

I bought a used Damascus/ Titanium folder For daily carry & it had issues. scratches in the Damascus & a rolled edge. the edge fixed I noticed the etched makers mark coloring 1/2 removed. being a daily carry piece I polish the blade but in doing so I lost (in areas ) some of the lines of the Damascus. I can order some Ferris Chloride and good that route but is it possible to use boiling vinegar to bring back the etching of a polished Damascus blade ? i gave gallons of vinegar on hand. If not no big deal but I thought I’d ask.

Had a friend of mine, whom is much more experienced than myself, warn me about using cedar as a handle. Told me if I didn’t get it treated it would most likely crack or move with the weather. I’ve had the completed knife for a couple months and have used it here or there at work. It’s one of my first completed projects as a new smith and the handle seems to be the best part of it. I actually cut the tree down myself. It had been dead standing for a few years. Oklahoma weather is pretty rough on wood, but this seemed to turn into a pretty decent handle. I’m wondering if In the future as I progress in this craft if I should steer away from it as a handle material. …

I'm fairly new to blacksmithing and knife making and I'm still trying to kind of figure everything out. On all the knives with wood handles I've made so far I have just left the wood as is without coating it in anything since I figure a coat of normal polyurethane or something will just wear off but I'm not sure. What is the best thing to put on handles to bring out the quality of the wood and keep it looking nice without wearing off after a little use? Also is staining handles a good idea before coating it in anything?