Thread: Final polish

I have made scales before but never done a blade polishing so can someone please advise me on which is the best to finish polishing a blade with a polishing compound such as the red "jewellers rouge" or a liquid polisher such as autosol?
Thanks.

Are you hand finishing or using buffing wheels?

Another relevant question is: what kind of finish? High gloss, such as CA or matt - like tung oil?

The CA finish is taken through the normal high-grit regimen w/ the finishing sandpapers, then an automotive rubbing compound or 'cleaner wax' (thank you, Glen) brings a sweet shine that show the depth of the finish (4-5 coats if you're wanting the bling).

I like just highly finished sandpaper work on matt finishes. It can start to look like high gloss w/ the higher grit papers from micro mesh.

A quality green and some white rouges are perfect for final polishing a blade. If you don't have a buffer and want to do things by hands there's a few alternatives like Maas, Blue Magic, Green Turtle Rubbing, Compound,... There's a few others but those are the ones I use. Off course nothing beats a good old buffer.

I have a buffing wheel although i haven't used it yet!iI thought red was finer than green for polishing?

Originally Posted by reggyboy

I thought red was finer than green for polishing?

Red rouge is best for precious metals like Gold, Brass, Copper, Nickel, Chrome Plate... Green is best used on Stainless Steel as is white, black and blue. But a quality green or white gives the best end result. I've tried the blue (finest after red rouge) and pink too but don't see any major improvement.

Rouge is not recommended for hard metals. As Max advised it's green for a high polish or white for a mirror like finish - although the pre-polishing has to be pretty good to achieve this.

Edit: Max beat me to it.

Thanks for the info fellas

Use separate wheels for different compounds & keep them stored in containers or large zip-loc bags. With my wax based compounds I use black, red, then white for finishing steel to a shine...but that is the progression with the mfg I bought mine from. Check the proper progression with the mfg of the compounds you are using.

Here's a good reference