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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Mar 24, 2013 11:45:09 GMT
Ok guys....i have a huge question here, how in the hell can you "polish" a blade that is not a 100% flat grind with a whetstone, a whetstone is a hard flat surface and if you move the blade across it, its only going to polish a small area and leave out everything thats "curved" away from the flat edge of the stone, ive tryed useing stones on many blades and all it has ever done is FU*K up the polish and make it looks scratched up and uneven, ive had WAY better results with soft sanding blocks then bend to the proper curve of the bevels and blade and give a very smooth even polish. I just dont get how people say they "polish" a blade with these. Ive used them to SHARPEN the edge, but then i had to polish out the scratches with a sanding block. can someone explain please? as a blade maker this really bothers me as a serious hole in my skills. :?
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Post by pokey on Mar 24, 2013 13:20:29 GMT
i would imagine you sort of 'rock' the blade along the stone, so it follows the curve? i dont actually have any idea to be honest, but thats what springs to mind?
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Mar 24, 2013 15:14:53 GMT
Now what do you mean, whetstones or waterstones? As far as I know, whetstones really are solely for touching up the edge. Waterstones however, while also used for sharpening, are also employed for polishing (think japanese waterstones polish).
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Mar 24, 2013 15:51:12 GMT
i mean whatever stones people say they polish with, i can see how the japanese Finger stone works because its very small but im talking about like a water stone or arkansas stone, the brick type ones. For example, lets say i just forged a katana and its covered in the forged finish, i know the japanese dont or didnt traditionally use sandpaper, so how did they get it from rough forge finish to the finish where its ready to use finger stones. and how would this apply to Euro swords and small knives as well. it seems to me tht if there is any dip or curve to the blade, the stone will miss it, but if you angle the blade to get it, it will flatten out the curve and mess up the geometry.
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Post by willhart on Mar 25, 2013 22:08:30 GMT
Here is a video that Ricky posted that explains how to do it. You basically have to just get a feeling for it after you rotate your wrists. You can skip to 7:35 seconds to get to the part where he explains it.
Personally I've found whetestones/oilstones/arkansas stones don't cut the metal that fast and it will take a lot longer if you're trying to reprofile the blade.
I hope you're Ok with me posting this Ricky, he does awesome work on his edges.
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