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TysonWalters
24th April 2001, 04:05
Hi all, this is just a open question for some help, as I need some. Right now I am in the process of making a training weapon to aid me in some tanto waza I am learning. So what I'm making right now is the blade. I have ground down the metal, which is just stock stainless steel to the shape I want, and have proceeded to sand it down. Now the metal is not dull anymore, but its not quite the nice finish I am after. Ok so there is the back ground info.

My question is then, how do I make a very nice looking finish on this blade and on this metal.

This is my first time trying to put a nice finish on a blade, and so far I have sanded down to 120 grit, with plans to do a progressive finer sanding job.

Also, this training weapon is not meant to cut, but rather to be used safely with a training partner if that helps at all.

Is it wrong to sand? If so is there anything else I can do?

Once again, thank you very much, any help would be very much appreciated for this novice weapon maker!

Tyson Walters

If you wish to email me and give some advice you can send mail to tysonwalters@hotmail.com

pgsmith
26th April 2001, 02:07
Hi Tyson,
I have never done this to stainless, but this method works well for other types of steel, so it should work OK. Sand paper is fine. Use progressively higher grits. Sand at about a 45 degree angle to the edge of the blade. Sand at one grit until ALL of the scratches are going in the same direction. Once you get to that point, go to a higher grit and shift your blade around so that you are sanding at a 90 degree angle to your last sanding. In other words, the scratches are going at a 90 degree angle to the last set of scratches. Sand until ALL the scratches are going in the new direction. Keep doing this at higher grit levels. 600 grit will give you a fairly decent satin finish. For a nice mirror type finish, get automotive sandpaper up to about 2000 grit, and then finish with a good chrome polish. Patience is the biggest part of it (and strong fingers!).

Hope that helped!