mirror finish micarta scales

[hayshaker]

how dey doo dat, no seriously how do you get that mirror
finish on those scales? is all in the buffing process?
i have a small buffer 1.soft felt wheel and1,med felt wheel
is it the compound which one?
white
pink
or green?
i'm getting ready to finish 2 knives and am new to the whole micarta thing.
any ideas will be helpful.

[Sarge]

Red shared his formula a while back for metal polishing and I use the same combinations for micarta. I think it kinda depends on the micarta - some seems to shine better than others.

I just have a 6" HF buffer - nothing fancy. I start with Medium Cut & Color (gray) on a sisal wheel, then White Blending Bar (I thnk) on a sewn cloth wheel. Your medium felt should work. Then finish with a loose leaf muslin wheel with Pink Scratchless. I got it all at Jantz but I've seen it all on other websites. Compounds are about $10-12 each but last a LONG time.

The sisal and the sewn wheels can burn/melt epoxy with too much pressure or if you leave it one place too long.

Anyway ... that's how I do it.

[wolfy]

I think your buffing wheels are too hard for what you're trying to accomplish.  I am a VERY amateurish knife builder, but I have had very good results using just an old motor with a stitched muslin buffing wheel attached to an arbor that I bought a long time ago at Sears (better hurry) for less than $15.   I sand by hand with very fine wet/dry paper first and then go to the wheel charged with the bar of white compound that they call 'stainless'.....good 'nuff fer me.

Here's another tutorial from that Northcoast Knives tutorial section....
http://www.northcoastknives.com/northcoast_knives_tutorials_hints_tips14.htm

EDIT:   I was constructing the post before Sarge beat me to the punch, but decided to post it anyway.    He knows a helluva lot more than I do about it!

[Sarge]

I think your buffing wheels are too hard for what you're trying to accomplish.  I am a VERY amateurish knife builder, but I have had very good results using just an old motor with a stitched muslin buffing wheel attached to an arbor that I bought a long time ago at Sears (better hurry) for less than $15.   I sand by hand with very fine wet/dry paper first and then go to the wheel charged with the bar of white compound that they call 'stainless'.....good 'nuff fer me.

Here's another tutorial from that Northcoast Knives tutorial section....
http://www.northcoastknives.com/northcoast_knives_tutorials_hints_tips14.htm

EDIT:   I was constructing the post before Sarge beat me to the punch, but decided to post it anyway.    He knows a helluva lot more than I do about it!

I credit ...or blame... Red - depending on the results. LOL

[wolfy]

Hayshaker, here's one I posted sometime back, but you may not have seen.    I put it together a looooong time ago, but it shows the level of polish that can be obtained with just the very rudimentary methods & equipment that I had at hand. 

[hayshaker]

OMG wolfy you made that. wow your too modest

[wolfy]

OMG wolfy you made that. wow your too modest

  I didn't actually 'make' it.....I just gathered the finished blade, brass bar stock, micarta block and spacer material, shaped and polished them and assembled them into a finished knife for a friend.  I'm more of an assemblyman than an actual MAKER like the rest of my friends here on the forum......it was fun, though.