I saw a knife at a recent campout that had swirls in the blades finish. You could feel no difference in the texture though. They looked about 1/2 in diameter. Any1 know what these are called and how to make them?

Engine Turning or jeweling like this?

or this?

thats it exactly. how do you do that? Or is it an ancient chinese secret and if you told me you would have to kill me?

Colton - I've done some small engine turning with a drill press and a pencil - use the eraser as the polisher - just a little down pressure and you have a circle mark - over lap them as you choose for a pattern. The smoother or more polished the part is to start with the better - I've also used a wood dowel rod - it holds up better than the eraser. Thats just the cheapo way I've done it to get the job done. -JK

cool. Ill try the wooden rod method. Thx

Ancient machine shop task. No big secrets, just diligent work that takes time to do it right. A mill is the tool for the task, but it can be done on a drill press if you apply yourself.

Take a look at the Jantz Supply Catalog. Page 64. Cat. # ET1 and ET2.
http://www.jantzsupply.com/documents/pdfcatalog44_000.pdf
It is a Jewelling tool made to be used in the drill press.

I use valve grinding compound on a dowel and get results I'm happy with.
Finnr

I have used the eraser method but found the eraser would tear and have to use several. I haven't tried the dowel method yet. Thanks for the insight. William

OUTSTANDING! I like the look and the method seems simple enough. Will keep y'all posted on the results. Thanks!

If you glue a round felt pad on the end of the dowel and use polishing compound you can get really nice results in whatever grit finish you like.

Frosty

i use lapping compound and an eraser- but that's already been said....better late than never, jimmy

if you want smaller ones, i use a pad sander, with 80 grit sandpaper it makes 1/8'' circles, and if you are careful with how you guide the pad sander, you can get a damascusy sort of look (not nearly as distinct as the real stuff though)

Hello, I'm new at this, so I will be short. Dowels are a good start. but is it wood? brass is a good choice too. And as Frosty said Felt!
I would go for the mounted ones.

Welcome aboard Rock-n-time, glad to have ya.

So, what are you into, want to get into. Have pics?

Frosty

People that build Fire trucks do That to all the aluminum surfaces that aren't painted to hide the scratches caused by everyday bumps and scrapes from taking equipment in and out of the compartments. Of course they do it on a large larger scale and use angle ginders with a fine disk or scotchbrite pad. Same effect though.

Terry