Originally Posted by
Euclid440
It was call a “Black Finish or Polish” because at some angles the reflection was deep and black. There are a group of young guys in Sheffield that have access to some of the old guys that were kids that did the polishing and more importantly the making of the wheels. There are links to some of them who post on British Blades. They do have some very nice bright finishes mostly on knives.
Some say to replicate the finish, each step of the process must be followed, including the Seal or Walrus skinned wheel.
I recently spoke with an old cutlery shop owner, who told me he was using a similar process with hard felt wheel and glued on red rouge, Ferrous Oxide, but even he admitted it was not the same finish. More importantly it seems no one knows what exactly was in the “Red Rogue” as it could have been a special blend or grind.