Originally Posted by
Neil Miller
the reason is simple- Sheffield man Roger Hinchliffe invented a high gloss polish known as 'black polish' in 1760 and it quickly became the preferred finish for high-end cutlery of all types. It was a secret crocus formula, eventually cracked by Solingen bladesmith and razor maker Daniel Peres, who set up business in 1792 and had a factory by 1801. So - mirror polishing was an option at least 200 years ago
That is not to say it was a universal finish - far from it. We all have individual preferences and no doubt all preferences were catered for. Furthermore a high polish was only applied to high-end cutlery, while the easy to achieve 'satin' polish was more prevalent, mainly due to being cheaper.
Sure,razors that are ground and finished on fine round mechanically driven water stone wheels will show grind marks (virtually all modern razors), but this is a finish of choice and if very fine adorns expensive as well as cheap items.
In fact it is very hard to know what the finish was on very old blades - typically because of the possibility that they were wedges originally, or at least very thick compared to the later hollow ground blades, and most have been reground at a later date using a technology which was not available at the time they were made, so discussing finish is pretty much an exercise in futility.
As for a mirror shine being easier to obtain than a satin finish, I beg to differ. A satin finish is simple - even a radial very fine scotchbrite wheel will do that in seconds. A true mirror shine involves many more steps - more sanding stages, more abrasive compound stages, more buffing compound stages, more final polishing stages.
But, as we probably all agree, it is a matter of taste. Facts aren't though.
Regards,
Neil