That Shimmer

D

Dacks

Well-Known Member
Being somewhat new to knife making, I'm constantly uncovering little mysteries. This one involves the "look" of my finished blades.

I've been using O1 steel and hand sanding down(up) to 1000 grit. I use a stout piece of smooth oak with one leather face and one bare wood face. This tool is then wrapped with strips of sandpaper. When I get to 600 grit and up to 1000, I have noticed "shimmer" in the steel that shows through the fine, faint scratch lines of the sand paper. The effect is even more pronounced after I rub it down with a fine Flitz pad. This shimmer looks sort of like oil in a hot fry pan just before the point where it starts to smoke..... very small "ripples" or "dimples". So far, I've been unable to capture this on my camera.

Question: Is this just the nature of the steel? Or, is this the result of something that I am doing(or not doing) in my sanding process?

Or.... am I having a 1970's flashback episode?

I appreciate any input on this one.

Thanks.
 
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Jon - No. I've figured out how to eliminate those "fishhooks" by just going in one direction. I'm fine with that.

What I'm trying to describe appears to be unrelated to the sand paper scratches. The steel itself seems to be rippled, but with very small ripples.... smaller than a pin head... uniformly covering the entire (polished)surface. I only begin to see this when I get to 600 grit or higher, so the steel is already quite smooth and flat.

I've used descriptive terms such as "shimmer", "dimples", "ripples", as well as "...like hot oil in a fry pan". I don't know how to better describe it, and I'm unable to capture this on the camera. This effect is not immediately apparent and I need to view the blade in just the right light/angle to see it.

Please don't misinterpret, I'm not necessarily complaining nor do I think this is a defect or "bad"..... just odd, and I was wondering if others have noticed.

Here some pics of of what I'm working on. Again you can't see this effect, but you should be able to see the results of my hand sanding efforts.


sgaindhub166.jpg


sgaindhub152.jpg


sgaindhub164.jpg


sgaindhub169.jpg
 
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Dacks,

I'm fairly sure what your seeing is the grain of the steel showing itself which I believe is not uncommon when polishing to higher grits. The smoother the finish the more visible it should become just like a Hamon.

I've recently experienced this with ATS-34 hand finished to 500.

What I'm curious about is if the visible grain pattern actually tells us anything about the internal structure of the blade. IE grain size, martinsite, pearlite, etc.

I'm sure those more knowledgable will chime in and assist us. Or mention that I'm wrong altogether, LOL.

Great question though, Thanks for asking it ! Josh
 
Josh Dabney said:
What I'm curious about is if the visible grain pattern actually tells us anything about the internal structure of the blade. IE grain size, martinsite, pearlite, etc.

Josh
Click to expand...

That's also what I'm curious about. Is this indicative of the quality of my heat treat/tempering process?
 
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