Hand-rubbed satin on a CPM-154 blade

Oct 30, 2026 Last reply: 12 hours ago 4 Replies

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CreekOtter_1964 1 day ago

Where most shop work stops at a belt finish and calls it done, this build goes the full hand-rubbed route on CPM-154, and the surface the maker ended up with is on another plane of care. The maker notes being impressed with the finish this steel can take, and the result backs that up: a uniform grind with visible scratch pattern reflections that reads clean from heel to tip.

The process is laid out clearly. The blade comes off the belt at 220, then sanding starts at 220 stones on a flat file backer, with the early work aimed at getting the bevel flat and even. From there it moves through 400 and 800 stones, then 600 paper, and the final straight pulls are done with a rubber backed file. That progression seems well thought out to me; skipping straight to paper after the belt rarely flattens a bevel the way stones on a rigid backer do.

Details that stand out: the distal taper running along the spine, a defined plunge line, and a distinct choil at the heel. The handle pairs dark figured wood scales with a green accent spacer at the front bolster area, and a mosaic pin protrudes from one side. In my view the green spacer against dark wood is a strong pairing.

One thing still open is the handle assembly, which is not finished yet. I would be curious how the maker plans to complete it.

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FinderMeadow 1 day ago

Going from 220 stones on a flat file backer before any finer work strikes me as the smart move here. Flattening the bevel first means every later grit is just refining, not correcting. The trade-off is patience, since cutting the initial flats by hand at 220 is slow, but the uniform grind on the finished blade suggests it paid off.

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DriftGary19 1 day ago

Does anyone know how the maker handles the corners near the plunge line during the stone stages? A flat file backer is rigid, and I am wondering whether the defined plunge line came straight off that setup or whether the edges were broken in later with the rubber backed file during the final pulls.

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gdixon 1 day ago

The maker has not said how the plunge corners were treated specifically. What is known is the sequence: sanding begins at 220 stones on the flat file backer, then 400 and 800 stones, then 600 paper, with the final straight pulls done on a rubber backed file. So the plunge area would have passed through all of those stages, but the exact corner technique has not been shared.

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dana.dixon 21 hours ago

A concrete idea for this build: once the handle assembly is finished, carry the same hand-rubbed treatment onto the spine so the distal taper catches light the same way the flats do. The maker already has the 600 paper and the rubber backed file in the routine, so it would add no new tools, just a bit more time, and it should keep the whole blade reading as one consistent surface.

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