Brush Finish on Restoration - How Do You Do It

[Shutterbug57]

Well, I have gotten the bug. I think I want to give a try to doing a restore. I don't have all the high dollar equipment to shine up a blade so that there are not ripples in the finish. Because brushed finishes are more forgiving in the reflection department, I thought I would give that a go. Problem is I have no idea how to do that - or a lot of other stuff in the restore, but that is another matter.

Does anyone know how to get a professional quality brushed finish on a blade? I realize there is a ton of prep work to get all the blemishes out of the blade, but I would like to know how to do a brushed finish. I appreciate any input y'all have.

 

[Bear_Blade]

A scotch brite belt would be the easiest, provided you have a belt grinder. Also, a coarse buffing compound on a dremel cloth wheel, will yield a fairly uniform hazy surface. On knives I hand finish, I use various grits of abrasive papers, which for me yields a scratch pattern parallel to the spine, not perpendicular to it.

This is at 320 grit, as you can see, this is easy on a convex blade face, but will be a challenge on a convex razor. It also may not be what you are looking for, but it is a way to achieve a "brushed" finish

 

[Sando]

I like the flat-brushed finish on many Hart razors but not being a pro I figured I'd give it a shot using sandpaper by hand. It was actually harder than I expected. I first tried extra course steel wool but it only shined up the surface. Same for 400 and 225 grit sandpaper. Also, the 225 grit will leave a scratch pattern but won't cover any underlying scratch going parallel with the spine.

I found 100 grit to work the best using Ballistol oil. 60 grit is just too rough. The oil helped to smooth everything out. WD40 works too. I went the 100/oil combo to get all the pattern going the same way, then wrapped a piece around a cork and slowly and evenly pull it from spine to edge all the way down the blade. Took awhile but I'm happy with the results. You can kinda see it here:

... Ray

 

[honed]

A scotch brite belt would be the easiest, provided you have a belt grinder. Also, a coarse buffing compound on a dremel cloth wheel, will yield a fairly uniform hazy surface. On knives I hand finish, I use various grits of abrasive papers, which for me yields a scratch pattern parallel to the spine, not perpendicular to it.

This is at 320 grit, as you can see, this is easy on a convex blade face, but will be a challenge on a convex razor. It also may not be what you are looking for, but it is a way to achieve a "brushed" finish

Now that is a properly cluttered work-bench, just like they are supposed to look!