Scotchbrite woes

CAJones

CAJones

Well-Known Member
I like the finish I can get on my bevels with scotchbrite belts. I also like the contrast of the vertical finish on the bevels and horizontal on the ricasso and flats. My issue is that the scotchbrite belts always leave errant scratches above the bevels on the flats. I can mitigate this to an extent by using tape to mask off the flats. Is there a better way to avoid having to refinish the flats or am I just looking for an easy way out?​
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Chris​
 
Do your bevels first with the scotch brite belt, then do your flats after. Should be able to keep everything nice and crisp that way.
 
Chris - I second the idea of doing bevels first, then touch flats to platen to clean those up. Which grit/color scotchbrite belt are you using? Have you used a cork belt?

Can anyone compare the finish between cork vs scotchbrite?

Looking to learn about scotchbrite belts. Been using cork for a while and it does pretty good for putting a nice satin finish to bevels.

Ken H>
 
I did it the same way John said, but since I'm new at this I had to do it over and over, until the desired finish was achieved.

I hand sand the flats up to 600 grit, and then I took the bevel up to the blue scotch brite belt. Just as you've noticed the scotch brite belt leaves a trail on the flats, but it doesn't take much effort to clean up the flats since they've already been taken to 600 grit. I had to go back and forth from the scotch brite belt on the bevel, to the 600 grit on the flats until I got the crisp sharp lines I was looking for.

There is no easy way to achieve the results one is looking for, only hours of hand finishing will get you there. I hope to some day get quicker at this knife making stuff. If there is one thing I've learned about the process, it's to take each step to completion. The better you grind the bevel, and the more time you spend on making sure your flats are truly flat; the better the grind line where the bevel meets the flats will be, and the easier it will be to final finish. I'm just learning this lesson myself, I'm only on knife #3 so far.


Don
 
Thanks fellas. I struggle with touching the flats up after the bevels. With my screaming fast Craftsman grinder and the small flat, I struggle to keep from washing out part of the bevel. It seems I may just need to continue my masking method to minimize the effect and finish with hand sanding the flats.

I have both the medium(maroon) and a fine(green). I recently did get a 600 grit cork belt that I haven't used much. I may need to experiment more with it.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Chris, finish your flats by hand after the scotchbrite. Get your flats where you want them, then do your scotchbrite on the bevels, then go back and take some sand paper, 400 or 600 grit or whatever, put a strip of micarta or g-10 behind your paper for backing and hand sand the flats. This will only take a couple minutes and it will keep your flats true and flat and crisp. Then wrap a paper towel around your blade and tape it up.

Then you can attach, pin/glue your scales on, let the glue dry and finish the scales holding the knife in your vise by the taped up blade. This way you can finish your handle and not mess up your blade. When you're done with the handle, remove the tape from the blade, carefully touch up and blend any areas you need to, maybe on the tang spine where it meets the blade spine, or wherever needs it, if any. And there you have it.....done. :)
 
I go over the flats every time I change grits. This is the result.
 

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Thank you John, that is essentially how I've been doing it. I guess I was just being lazy and looking for a way to do away with the hand sanding on certain blades all together.

Tom, that is a gorgeous knife.

Chris
 
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