? light scratch removal on polished Titanium . . .

Legacy Forum Archive knife-specific-discussion
1

I picked up this knife that had a light scratch on the handle. Its a Chris Reeve knife and they have an excellent warranty policy that follows the knife. But then there is shipping charges to them and they also charge $17.50 to send it back to you. But the worse part is I lose use of the knife for 4-6 weeks! Since its not a warranty issue, they may also probably charge $30 to re-polish both sides.

So I tried a little light buffing with a white buffer attachment on my dremel using a little .50 and .25 diamond sprays as an abrasive to try and polish the scratch, but it only made it worse. Its not as bad as it looks in the pic because I have the cameras magnification turned way up. It can hardly be seen by just eyeballing and only at certain angels, but “I” know its there and that bothers me. I tried Brasso too, but that didn’t work either. Maybe if I kept polishing, this should not be that difficult for me to polish this out IMO. . . But I want to make sure Im using the right compound first.

Any tips before I have to throw in the towel and send it into the company for them to re-polish?

Thanks,

Paul

2

I could be wrong, but was thinking his handles were titanium.

3

You could send it to Josh at Razor Edge Knives. He’s a WE user and Forum Participant. I’m sure he can repair it. I’d call him or PM him to view your post and picture to give you an estimate and turn-around time. He does beautiful work. I see he has a “Chat Live” feature at his website!

4

Two strikes. First, as mentioned above by Mikedoh, CRK frames are titanium, not stainless steel. This is why you probably made it worse using the abrasives you used. Second, even if you sent it to CRK, they would not do a refurbishment (spa treatment) on it as it is an inlaid model. They only do spa treatments on models without inlays. They would clean it up as best as they could and redo the edge and polish the blade … but not much they would do about the scratches. To remove the scratches properly, the inlays would need to be removed.

5

Thanks for catching my error. It is polished titanium. I edited the original title.

6

Thanks for your reply. I’ll probably re-sell this knife as Im looking for a similar model only with a Damascus blade. So I don’t want to put a lot of time or money into it. I’d like to just break even.

Chris Reeve C/S said they will try and polish it out, but like I said its a 4-6 week turnaround.

I’m sure if I knew what product to use to polish it with and by what method I could do it myself. The scratch can’t be felt with a finger nail and it only can be seen at a certain angle. Nothing much on youtube.

I don’t want to take Josh’s time up answering my question as he’s running a business.

See pic “without magnification”. It is not that bad as I polished most of it out. But if its in my collection, it has to be corrected.

7

You’re going to need to flip the knife over to show the same side as in the first picture.

Just one of those days . . .

8

Haha thats true. But both sides look the same as it had a light scratch on each side, so I polished each side a little. I did get pointed to a great thread on the bladeforums.com regarding polishing titanium handles with wooden inlays. I’ll repost portions of how this poster polishes scratches out.

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Posted by “Glock Guy” . . . who does custom work on polymer guns so I am more than handy with a dremel, and have played with a bunch of the attachments for them.
If you have a Dremel, here are the two things you need:
<b>EZ402 - EZ Lock Mandrel</b>
<b>EZ473SA Detail Abrasive Brush</b>
The detail brush is soft and flexible, allowing you to get into even the small spaces in between the inlays. It also gives you a nice, even satin finish if you do your job right!
Run the dremel at the lowest speed (probably no higher than 3), and go in the same direction. I would estimate the entire slab taking about 1-2 minutes. Seriously. It’s that quick.
Another alternative for a nice satin finish on a plain Ti handled one, I would recommend using
<b>512E EZ Lock Finishing Abrasive</b>
That will give you that “Scotch-Brite” look that <i>some</i> people like much quicker, and far more evenly then doing it by hand, although the Detail brush will accomplish the exact same thing without as much of that “Polished” look that you get from Scotch-brite.

10

Correct side;

11

Expidia:

Looks like you did a really good job polishing the scratches out. I was going to suggest looking into a light stone wash, as Titanium has that look. About forty years ago, a gunsmith friend of mind did some glass bead blasting, which gives the metal a much softer appearance. Not a typical titanium finish, but very nice. It’s the same as sand blasting, but on a small scale and using glass beads which have no sharp edges.

Early warning! The following is a 3:00 AM rant. No offense intended:

Just a personal preference issue, but if I stick an EDC knife in my pocket, I expect it to get banged up a little with nuts and bolts and coins and keys, not to mention actual use in a multitude of situations. For me, my EDC knife is a working tool. Worrying about scratches is reserved for my non-EDCs. Of course, I don’t use the pocket clip, so the knife rests at the bottom of my pocket, which makes it a little bit apples and oranges. I hate pocket clips. I see them as an ugly appendage which feels uncomfortable in my hand. When I buy a new folder, the first thing I do is remove the clip. I love my Spydercos, but they’re ugly-assed knives and the clip just makes them uglier. Your CR is a beautiful knife and it would grind on me to see that clip hiding the beauty of the inlays. For the same reason, I am turned off by framelocks. Why would you ugly-up a beautiful knife with such a severe chop-job on the back side. Kind of like looking at the backside of a beautiful naked woman, only to have her turn around, and you see that she’s got a colostomy bag hanging on her belly.

End of rant. Sorry 'bout that.

12

I agree with what you say on the form factors of various brands. The problem with collecting folders is you have to “buy” them to “try” them. And I first collected most of the iconic models. Then I started leaning towards the Benchmade brand as I liked their styling and their axis locking system where you just pull back on a small button on each side of the blade to release it. And They have sooo many models.

But I’ve moved onto collecting mostly the Chris Reeve Brand now and will re-sell most of my other ones.

I so agree on what your observations are on various types of knives. I too “at first” said pocket clips suck, I’m better off taking them off. And if I wore jeans all the time keeping knife in bottom of pocket was fine as I’ve learned I dont put my phone in the same pocket as my keys (ask me how I know this NOW).

But with dress slacks or a suit the knife tends to move sidesways all the time especially when driving. Benchmade sends you a free deep carry clip just by calling and asking for one in either black or silver. I use Deep carry on all my EDC’s. I work in an office enviroment so I don’t feel comfortable walking around with 20% of a knife poking out of my pocket with a regular clip. Deep carry you don’t see it at all. Also a dark clip you don’t notice the clip. This also frees up the rest of the pocket for other stuff. Keys at bottom, knife at top in the same pocket.

An iconic knife is the Spyderco Para Millitary 2. I think most people like it as they are playing soldier, hence the name. I never got the attraction of its design. It feels like a toy. Has a frame lock and most brands do the same thing with frame locks that when they make the handles in titanium the other side is ugly and open. But these designs grow on you. I never liked the taste of beer at first. Same for wine. Now many of these knife iconic knife designs were ground breaking and other brands started copying each other whenever a design took off. Side note: Chris Reeve invented the frame lock I think. Wiki chris reeve, just an amazing story from his first designs in 1987. An iconic custom designer.

The Spyderco frame lock is actually a cool design. Its opens so easily and can be opened and closed with one hand and when closing the blade as it falls back into the handle your fingers are not under the blade as with many other designs. That spidey hole to release the blade one handed was another iconic invention.

I also have a few benchmade assisted opening models which are amazing. These are not “automatic” openers as like switchblades which are illegal in NY.

They are just spring assisted when opening which are great for one hand operation. Nice if you are a linesman swinging off a pole and need to use your knife with one hand.

I’ve moved onto the Chris Reeves brand because they are not production knives like the less expensive brands. Watch his facory tour part one and part two video on youtube since we sharpen knives he gives us a lot of insught on how his knives are made. He shows what you were talking about as to how he sandblasts or polishes the handles in a rotating maching. If bought right like on a trading forum, they hold their values and can be re-sold years later for a profit as the costs of materials and labor rises, so does your used knife. Just like as a new car price rises each year it pulls up the values of used cars.

Many collect knives and just keep them in a safe (much like art collectors) hence the term “its a safe queen” meaning like new in box and never used.

Nothing wrong with carrying an EDC beater as you do thats what most knives are for to be used as tools. But if one collects them for future resale or trade they need to be kept in pristine condition. Many are fanatics with their collections especially the Chris Reeve Brand. One member there shows her collection of all of her 150 different Chris Reeves knives. At and average price of $500 per knife add that one up. But she trades them or sells them to other members. Its a community of knife lovers that seem to just keep passing knives from memeber to member like some do that are car or art collectors.

Another ugly ass brand to me is the ZT line. They too have the naked titanium side to them.

And thanks for that colostomy visual picture . . . enjoyed that one as I was biting into my cinnamon raisin english muffin this AM as I was reading it.

Another youtube video to watch a few vids on how is how a Smith makes Damascus steel for some of these expensive blade designs. To reach a certain level of his trade, he has to put a steel billet together and heat it, pound it and “fold it over 1200 times into itself” to be certified. An amazing process to watch since we all like blades to sharpen.

Also for fun and learning about various knives pick an iconic brand and model and pull up that model on youtube under Nick Shabazz. His voice and accent are one in a milion but he reviews each knife with humor and he tells it like it is . . . the good, the bad and the ugly with each model before you would buy a certain knife. You will be entertained and walk away saying. . . . “and dats a beautiful ting”!

 

 

 

13

I have a relationship with knives that’s somewhat different from most knife nuts. I see them as tools or as works of art or a combination of the two. I do not see them as weapons - an attitude that leaves me cold when watching “Forged in Fire.” I hate that these knifemakers - a number of which are true artists - are forced to produce in a few hours a crappy weapon which is not a true reflection of their abilities.

I’ve never been a collector. My frugal upbringing has ingrained in me that if I wanted a new gun or a new car, I had to sell the old one. That’s changed a bit as I grow older and have more disposable resources, but I still don’t truly understand the need to amass collections of things, so please forgive my questioning of how knives should be used.

Your comments about selling knives for more than their original retail value is news to me. I always assumed they depreciated. I should know better, as I always sold my guns for more than I paid for them. This amazes my wife, who knows that she couldn’t get more than 40% back on her diamonds and jewelry. An exception, of course, is her gold jewelry, which has appreciated simply because of the gold content.

That Damascus CRK is a beautiful example of a tool that’s a work of art. Love it.

14

Those light scratches that I was trying to remove were getting better using a Dremel on the slowest variable speed with the felt wheel attachement and trying various polishing componds like the .25 diamond spray, the paste polish that came with the Dremel polishing kit and then Brasso.

It was a work in progress UNTIL I took my Grandchildren to a kids playland and was walking around there for hours not realizing that I had put the same polished Titanium knife in my same shorts pocket as my car keys . . . Rut Row!

I had to use the dremel again and it got out the deeper scratches again. Its still a work in progress, but dabbing a q-tip into a little Brasso liquid and just rubbing back and forth is bringing it back to its original polished surface. I think a few more treatments ought to do it!

15

That’s no rant! That’s good entertainment for my first few minutes here at work. Oh man the image you stuck in my head! I really liked my Spyderco Tenacious at first, until I found how miserable soft the Chinese steel in that model was. My mistake, I bought it. Sold it for what I paid, so I guess it was a free learning experience.

Thanks for the smile.

16

He did paint a funny picture alrighty. That one stuck in my head too! All these knife manufactuers have to be a little different or they would all look and function the same. Each brand or model has it’s own uniqueness. This is why as I was new to the building a collection hobby a few months ago I picked out some of the most popular brands and iconic knives first. Bought them all at big discounts, so I could resell the ones that I was not that thrilled with. Such as an example the Spyderco Para 2. I think most Spyderco’s are ugly too, but to each their own. The para is a frame lock, but its very easy to open and close. But its and ugl style IMO and felt like a toy knife.

The ZT line have some iconic models in premium steels, but they are heavy and built like tanks. Benchmade for the money, has some of the best styles and opening and closing actions. They range from inexpensive to expensive to reach all levels of consumer desires.

The Chris Reeve brand is iconic and really hold their values, if bought right. The Sebenza 21 model came out around 1987. It’s their own proprietary premium steel, but I was able to put a beautiful edge on it with the WE. As they get more expensive each year, it also pulls up the used resale values. Initially I bought 6 different ones, but they all have stiff frame locks and a stiff hydraulic action that you wind up with callous on the tip of your thumb. 3 were Mnandis each having different wood or a Damascus blade. But for me, they are just a collectors item and they are tiny and only good for opening envelopes or cleaning under your nails, again IMO, So I re-sold them too and I’m down to the one large Sebenza 21. I had a small Sebenza 21, but that was also sold as I found it too small. I’d like to see them offer one in a middle size.

On the scratching of an everday user. I originally took all my pocket clips off as I also felt they were ugly. But then I got all deep carry pocket clips. These are great as it still leaves like a 1/2 of a pocket for stuff as the knife carries up high but not enough to peek out of your pants. I hated when im driving and without a pocket clip on loose pants the knife turns sideways and it uncomfortable when moving around.

My shorts that day had a shallow pocket and I never realized I put the keys and the knife in the same pocket. Polished titanium shows scratches way too easily. Even the sandblasted grey Titanium handles that Chris Reeves offers also scratches easily. I think they call them snail trails. I also use a beater knife which is an auto assisted opening Kershaw Ken Onion Blur. Its somewhat a rubberized textured handle and they can be found in the $50 range. I’ve used this one for years. The blade swings open from the side with springs as it opens like a switch blade but even in NY, its still legal as its considered assisted as you start the motion with your thumb on the thumbstud. Its not an auto push button like a switch blade. I’m going to mirror its edge next, but 1/2 of it is serrated, so that ought to be a hoot! I plan to blue tape over the serrated part.

These companies are all upping their game when it comes to the premium steels they offer with various models. These steels are really hard and high up on the hardness/edge retention index. The trade off is they are harder to sharpen from what owners complain about on various forums. Steels like M390, S90V, S30V . . . I’d like to email Josh from razor edge knives at some point and see how he’s learned to handle these harder steels. He makes it look easy in his videos, until I tried them myself. I’m still up in the air on which ones will remain in my collection, so I can’t get more practice on the harder steels yet. But I’m in no rush.

I buy all my knives used at big discounts just like I do cars. I buy cars when it’s time to upgrade like a year or two old and let someone else take the 25% depreciation hit when buying new.

And thanks for your above comment.

Paul