Thread: My first restoration... sorta

Heheh yeah. I did a lot of sanding at 600. Didn't have anything in between at the time, but I went and picked up some 220 and 400 (couldn't find 320). Now I have 180discs, 220, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 5µ. I think I'm stocked for a while

I'm almost certain the striations left aren't from the lower grits. When moving up in grits I'd sand perpendicular to the previous grit's striations untill they were all gone and then one again perpendicular to the current grits striations until those were all gone. Except for the 1500 and 5µ, those I just went across the stria once instead of twice.

The 2000 did leave a nice looking satin finish; and I would have been happy to stop there. But, I wanted to try the polish's just to see what they could do.

Well, Now to learn how to do scales... and/or get to work sanding my boker and genco

Well, I finished step 2: the scales.

open
blade
stamping
closed 1
closed 2

I had a sheet of 1/8" plexiglass and decided to see if it would make decent scales. Stuff is cheap, and I needed to learn, so I didn't have to worry about ruining it. It felt a little flimsy, but once I got everything together it ended up sturdier than I thought and I'm quite satisfied. Though I'm sure some sort of acrylic would be better.

Glad I took the time to learn on something more or less disposable. Was very easily reminded what a pain in the ass it is to work with superglue I decided to glue the wedge instead of pin it. I did this because the glue fills all the striations left from sanding and left the entire back end transparent (except of course for the spots I missed ). The blade also sits very well in the scales. Comes in almost dead centre. I figured I'd need a shank pin (or whatever it's called) to help restrain the blade, but it turns out there's no need. Despite using the original scales as a template, my scales seem to be just a tad big. Ohh well, lessons learned.

Hey that looks really nice. Job well done.

Thanks Richz! you seem to be the only one who appriciates my work so far

Originally Posted by ToxIk

Thanks Richz! you seem to be the only one who appriciates my work so far

Ok, I like it, too

Looks good, plexi scales are funky.
There is still some pitting on the blade, right? Are you planning on sanding that off one day, or is this as much as you're willing to invest?


Redwoood

Those clear scales are a trip!

Thanks guys!

Redwood: That's all the sanding I'll be doing for this blade. It was my first attempt and it isn't a very valuable blade (that I know of). So it was more or less practice. The genco I posted in another thread (and viewable here) I sanded much more thoroughly and polished to a near flawless mirror polish. I really love that mirror polish, but it's a pain to keep perfectly clean.

The plexiglass scales are quite easy to make. The 12x8" 1/8" thick sheet of plexiglass was about $4, so it was at a nice price point for me to practice making my first scales out of. It feels kinda flimsy when I'm working with it, but it's about as sturdy as just about most other plastic/celluloid scales I've come across.
Wish I had a bandsaw or something though. cutting out scales with a coping saw takes some time; and, the way plexiglass likes to grip the blade, it can be a real pain too.

I'm working on another set of plexi scales, cept this time with nicer rounded edges. All the sanding seems to have taken off about 1/32-1/16" of the thickness, so right now they're feeling a little light. Definitely not going to be putting any big blades in these ones. I'll post the results when I'm done.