Scotch Brite belts for blade finishing?

A

AJH_Knives

Well-Known Member
Hey guys,
anyone try those scotch- brite belts to finish blades with? either pre heat treat or post? just wondering if they work better than sand paper and elbow grease..
 
I use them occasionally. They are great at laying down a very consistent scratch pattern for a nice user-satin finish. It doesn't replicate a hand-rubbed finish of course, but they do have their place. They're also pretty handy for breaking hard edges and cleaning up kydex sheaths.
 
AJH_Knives said:
Hey guys,
anyone try those scotch- brite belts to finish blades with? either pre heat treat or post? just wondering if they work better than sand paper and elbow grease..
Click to expand...

I use them on most all of my knives. The Brown is the coarsest, Great for cleaning off old rusty stuff too!
Then Maroon is Medium with Blue Fine and the Grey is the extra fine. I finish to 120 G ceramic then a cork 400G then the Maroon & Grey for final.

Nice working brushed satin finish which is what I prefer for a working knife.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
I sand out to 600 grit then go to a fine Scotch-Brite belt for a satin finish. They will not cover up a poor sanding job. Make sure that all the scratches from the previous grit are gone before going to the next grit or they will show through the satin finish.

Doug
 
So, what is the best sanding method for getting all the scratches out. This is what I am currently doing, and I am looking for advice on this matter. I do this by hand. I wrap the sand paper around a 1"x 1/4" x 16" bar.I use WD40 and when that gets "dirty" i wipe it off with a microfiber cloth and them apply more WD40.
I start with 120g in a circular motion, 220g circular motion, 320g length of the blade back and forth, 400g length of the blade back and forth, 500g length of the blade one way, 1000g length of the blade one way. is there a better way of doing this? it takes for ever... this buts a grain length wise on the blade.
BTW i am only using O1 steel, if that makes a difference.
 
Scotchbrites aren't a cure all and can make things worse real quick.
I do use them a lot but with a plan. Before HT, I grind all my blades to 400g and blend a hollow grind with a fine scotchbrite.... just to have a leg up on finish after HT. After HT I use a 380g and 400Xg and go to hand sanding at 400g to whatever grit I want to end at. I've been accused of being real cavalier at the grinder, but that's only because my prep was thought out before hand. I use the extra fine scotchbrite once in a while lightly to identify deep scratches before a mirror polish. If you're too agressive with scotchbrites, especially the medium, you'll work real hard by hand to get your crisp grind lines back after they've been rounded off. Grinding to 400g cut my hand sanding time quite a bit and scotchbrites helped smooth out hollow grinds. They do shine on convex grinds...medium, fine, then extra fine....done. I use O-1 often myself.

Good luck,
Rudy
 
On my fancier knives, I'll grind up to 120 or 220 and then hand sand up from there, changing directions between grits. On my user knives, I'll either go from a ceramic 60 to a 120 then to a Trizact belt and go up through to an A45 or an A30. My method for finishing for a silky satin finish is to start with ceramic belts in a 60 grit, then 120 and then to an A300 Trizact to a fine scotch-brite then to the extra fine scotch-brite. This has cut my finishing down to a few minutes versus a few hours hand sanding! The finish that the extra fine Scotch-Brite (grey belt) leaves is just like glass. It really makes a makers mark jump out from the blade! And the kicker is most people who I show all three finishes too prefer the Scotch-brite finish or have no preference one way or another!

I do mostly full flat grinds so I don't have to worry about washing out my grind lines. When I do have a grind line, it's hand sanding and Trizact belts because it's just too easy for me to wash them out with a Scotch-brite belt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top