What colors or grits Rouge should I use?

MTHall720

Member
I have some knives with a stonewash finish, and some with just a non reflective finish. My budget is tight so I don't want to end up doing a butcher job on any blades. I want a finish with more shine. I use a dremel with polish embedded rubber tips but now want to use felt tips for polishing but don't know what colors of rouge I should use. Just assuming different colors mean different grits.
Any advice is much appreciated.
Don't have access to a buffer.
Was also wondering about hand sanding for a brighter finish starting with maybe 800 grit paper? Would that be too coarse?
 
Rouge(in all it's glorious colors) is designed for softer metal. You can find more aggressive polishing compounds, but taking a bead blasted hardened steel surface to"more shine", is a little over the pay grade for Dremel! I would forget that, and move to sanding.
 
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I know it's hard collecting all the tools u need for this trade..but u really need a buffer...Harbor freight and Northern Tool have them..they're not the best ($35.00 range) but they're better than nothing!
 
Would a buffer be pretty much like a grinder but with buffing instead? I have also wondered about using sandpaper by hand with a block, but not too sure what grit to start with.
 
Just be double cautious with that buffing wheel. I've seen a couple of people's injuries from knives flung back at them by the buffing wheel - and have heard more stories. If that nice fluffy buffing wheel catches your blade it will fling it out at high speed. Just sayin'.
 
If you are careful you can do a respectable job hand sanding a flat ground (very hard for hollow grinds) finished knife. The main problem is the area near the handle/guard. It is very very difficult to work this area and leave a clean finish. You are looking at a fairly time consuming job to get to a mirror shine by hand though...you would probably need to back all the way to 400 or even 320 grit to start and work up 320-400-600 (some mirror but still a matte finish)-800-1200 (really losing matte and seeing mirror) without a buffer.

My recommendation: If you have a drill press, get a 6" buffing wheel with the drill mount and chuck it in the press. Run it medium fast and always work on the surface spinning away from you. It will sling grit and fuzz everywhere, but it works for occasional jobs.
 
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