# Mirror Finish on stones.



## Itsjun (Feb 28, 2019)

Hi,
I have been wondering how long does one take to mirror polish their knives on stones alone without sandpaper, abrasive etc assistance.
No matter how much i polish, only the edges have very nice mirror polish.
Right now I can only quench my thirst of mirror polish by using Uchi finger stones to create hazy cloud finish.

So I would like to hear from knife addicts that have done mirror polish purely on stones and what are your stone kits, grits/brand etc
Right now, I'm using 1000 grit - 3000 grit stones. 
For higher grit, I have Lv5 Wakasa and a slab of jade marble.


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## Badgertooth (Mar 1, 2019)

So mirror via a stone polish is pretty difficult and you need some pretty high end synths (8k and above) or naturals to stand a chance. And you have to meticulously erase the scratches from every preceding stone


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## Badgertooth (Mar 1, 2019)

https://instagram.com/p/BjpIUPpg7_F/


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## Nemo (Mar 1, 2019)

Badgertooth said:


> https://instagram.com/p/BjpIUPpg7_F/


[Picks self off floor]

Is this your work, Otto? Amazing stuff.


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## Nemo (Mar 1, 2019)

Only time I've done it without sandpaper is with a perfecly flat wide bevel.

Did I mention it is easier with sandpaper?


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## dwalker (Mar 1, 2019)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi8D_a3AhXw/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1o7ombl7k8tpc


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## Cyrilix (Mar 1, 2019)

Which synths are preferable for this beyond 6k?


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## TB_London (Mar 1, 2019)

Naniwa superstones used to be the go to back in the day. There are probably way more options now


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## nutmeg (Mar 1, 2019)

mirror is very challenging. Assuming you erased visible scratches, you have to find the right stones for that.
Too soft and the mirror will look dull but kind of forgiving, too hard and you will get a strong shiny bling bling mirror on the core but a scratchy clad.
In my quite intensive quest for the holy mirror I don't remember of a perfect scratch free mirror blade, even on a small kiridashi. Some can show great things with the correct angle and an Iphone camera but never scratch free.
This is going to be extremely time consuming for you, my friend!


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## nutmeg (Mar 1, 2019)

I'm a patient guy and for these two blade I gave everything.. The result became very good and extremely clean on one side of the Kato damascus but never scratch free.
http://uchigumori.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/P1000671.jpg


..So I guess you should take as much time as you can and accept the result even if it's not perfect.


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## lemeneid (Mar 1, 2019)

Hagane and Jigane abrade at different rates and different synths/nats will produce different finishes on either. Don’t think it is possible to fully mirror the blade face with stones.

Or are you talking about mirroring the whole knife? You’ll need sandpaper with that.


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## milkbaby (Mar 1, 2019)

nutmeg said:


> I'm a patient guy and for these two blade I gave everything.. The result became very good and extremely clean on one side of the Kato damascus but never scratch free.
> http://uchigumori.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/P1000671.jpg
> 
> 
> ..So I guess you should take as much time as you can and accept the result even if it's not perfect.




I totally dug that first DJ Shadow album... is the music afterwards your own produced tho? It's really nice!


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## Badgertooth (Mar 1, 2019)

Nemo said:


> [Picks self off floor]
> 
> Is this your work, Otto? Amazing stuff.



It is mate, and as Nutmeg points out, camera angles etc help but that was a good polish. You need a lot to go right to get a mirror finish.


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## Badgertooth (Mar 1, 2019)

nutmeg said:


> I'm a patient guy and for these two blade I gave everything.. The result became very good and extremely clean on one side of the Kato damascus but never scratch free.
> http://uchigumori.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/P1000671.jpg
> 
> 
> ..So I guess you should take as much time as you can and accept the result even if it's not perfect.




I still get an immense amount of joy out of this video.


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## Nemo (Mar 1, 2019)

nutmeg said:


> I'm a patient guy and for these two blade I gave everything.. The result became very good and extremely clean on one side of the Kato damascus but never scratch free.
> http://uchigumori.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/P1000671.jpg
> 
> 
> ..So I guess you should take as much time as you can and accept the result even if it's not perfect.


Groovy video. And the polishing is amazing.


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## inferno (Mar 2, 2019)

I have tried mirror finishing on stones and its quite hard. You have to use all your grits to start. and even on your top grit there is no guarantee it will be mirror. I finish at shapton pro 12k and its still a bit scratchy imo. also the cladding and edge steel respond different to the stones, its usually much easier to get a mirror on hardened steel than the cladding. 

I would get paper for this imo. maybe 1k, 2-3k, 5-8k and 15-20k jis equivalent.


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