How long does hand sanding take you?

[P J 234]

Not sure if this will help anything, but I thought I would throw up a couple of quick and dirty pics and dimensions, since that was asked about before. I'm not able to capture the remaining finish flaws in my crummy photos. It looks good from a couple of feet away, but under direct light with my nose almost touching the blade, they are taunting me to quit and give up

Blade dimensions:

1/4" thick 5160

~4 3/4" long (tip to plunge) x ~1 1/2" wide (at the plunge)

 

[silver_pilate]

PJ, here's the way I avoid scratching. I start and completely finish one side all the way to finished grit. Then I clean the blade and put a layer of 2" wide painter's tape on, using a razor blade to cut away the excess around the edges. I actually cut the excess off using the razor directly against the edge of the blade so that my tape exactly matches the profile of the blade.

I then wipe off the leather, and often put a piece of tape over it as well and clamp the blade down. I don't use as much fluid as some. I used to use windex, but I had some discoloration problems on a few blades, so I switched to honing oil. I put a few drops down to start, and once it starts to dry up, add a few more. Just enough to keep the grit in play, but not enough to saturate the entire rig. Once I finish the second side, I tape it in the same manner and I'm good to go until I'm ready for handles.

That's just me, though. I know of others who use copious amounts of oil with good results, but I found that this works well for me. I also don't tend to use oil above 400 grit. No specific reason why, but I just don't.

--nathan

 

[Keith Willis]

PJ,I can't add much to what has already been said,but I will say as a lubriciant I use baby oil.As Nathan said I use very little,and the baby oil does not bother the skin.

Good luck.

God bless,Keith

 

[HELLGAP]

Pj this is how I now finish a blade . Some times I will end up hand rubbing at 1500 but thats one out of 10 blades beause of a hard to get at spot I missed or something like tha. The belts you use is the key to finishing , I love norax structured abrasive belts , after useing blaze norton in 220 grit I go to 320 max then back up to norax 220 structured abrasive they are engineered to take out scratches due to their design. I go like this 220 , 320 500, 1200 , 3000. And never look back Take um to the buffer with green or white roughe and thats it they will shine like no tommorrow. Time from start to finish after recieving from heat treat 30 min max. I also got some sanding grit but have never used it yet but am told its really good. I got it in 220 and 500.Hand sanding for me is dicouraging alot of makers there are alot of other methonds faster easier and do just as good as job .kellyw

 

[P J 234]

Thanks Keith, I'll poke around in the medicine cabinet and see if we have any baby oil that I can try out.

 

[P J 234]

Thanks Kelly, I have 120x through 600x equivalent Trizact Gators which I think are somewhat comparable to the Norax structured abrasive belts. I may order some of those to try down the line, but when I run through the grits on the gators up to 600x, I frequently end up back at 220x by hand trying to get scratches out, so either the belts aren't getting all the 60 x scratches out to begin with, or the Gators do not have uniform grit composition.

My tastes really prefer a hand sanded finish to a buffed mirror finish, so I'd like to figure this out and get it to a manageable timeframe. I don't mind spending the 2-4 hours, but this is ridiculous at the moment.

 

[johnggrg]

What about the guy that uses files to shape his blade and doesn't have a belt sander? What grit would you start with if hand sanding? I would think a low number. I have been trying to get a couple scratches out of mine using 100 grit and not doing it at all. Any thoughts on that. John

 

[cubby]

john, why not drop back farther to 80 grit or so? when i used files i started with 80 grit, then 120, 220, 320, and on up... finished it off with super fine steel wool........ like has been said.... get it going right with the low grits, and the high grits are easier.