Buffing help

[jaswarb]

I am working on my first TL-29 conversion. There is so much information on this site
it seemed obvious to attempt making practical use of it and by experience obtain a
better understanding. Thanks to all the generous and friendly folks here kind enough to
share some of their hard won knowledge.
Cutlers work hard developing skills which are all to easy for the rest of us to take for granted.

I only have hand tools to work with so buffing is taking me forever.
Does anyone have shortcuts for hand finishing not involving power tools.
Consider it has taken me more than 18 hours over the last couple of weeks to get this far.
There would be a pink slip in my pay envelope.
Very crude results to this point and three rebuilds later has
given me a great appreciation of the work cutler's do gaining the skills to make it look easy.
I have a Muskrat Man Green Bone TL-29 conversion with vine file work which is a beaut and my most frequent EDC.

I started with a very rare "One Dot" Camillus.
Somebody out there will know how this special variant came to be.

Any Guesses?

Click to enlarge the photos and get the best detail
Here is hint. When making fine adjustments don't get frustrated
and in a hurry. Work a little and measure checking the fit then
adjust. Get in a hurry and pass the point where you will need to
reverse direction.

[orvet]

Impressive especially for doing it all by hand!

Check with Jantz, they sell 3M's polishing paper.
It comes in 400, 600, 1200, 4000, 6000 & 8000 grits.
By the time you use it on the bolsters and handles, working your way up through all 6 grits it will look almost as good is if it had been on a buffer.

[Elvis]

Impressive especially for doing it all by hand!

Check with Jantz, they sell 3M's polishing paper.
It comes in 400, 600, 1200, 4000, 6000 & 8000 grits.
By the time you use it on the bolsters and handles, working your way up through all 6 grits it will look almost as good is if it had been on a buffer.

By the time you finish with that, a touch of Flitz or some other very fine abrasive will bring the nickel-silver and brass parts to a mirror finish. See if you can scrounge a motor that runs at about 1750 rpm though faster will work.. Once mounted solid, it's just a trip to Lowe's or Home Depot (or Harbor Frieght) for the rest.

[knifemaker3]

one thing to remember about using a power buff is to be very careful or you will round over square corners......like what happens to the runup on Case knives. With practice and care you can keep everything square....just be careful.

Hand rubbing a blade really doesn't take too long if you use a flat backer block and a little wd-40 or some type of cutting fluid. when going through the grits, sand in a slight different angle to the previous grit direction and sand all the previous marks out. That way you are sure you get everything sanded correct so as to not get down to say 1000 grit and have to start over because you didn't get all of the say 400 grit marks sanded out. Hope that makes sense.

Good Luck and fine job on what you already have accomplished!

[TripleF]

I'd like to ask a question. Can you use regular sand paper? I've been using 100, 220, 400, 600 and 1500 grit. Then Flitz.

Held in just the right light you can see the scratch marks.....

[orvet]

The biggest problem with traditional wet or dry sandpaper is that they only go up to 2000 grit, which will still show sanding marks.
The 3M polishing paper leaves a scratch pattern that seems not to be as deep as sandpaper and then you have 4000, 6000 & 8000 grits to remove the other scratches.