Sanded blades and duel durability

[Obi-Ben]

So, sanding blades with a fine grit can improve light diffusion and make for a more even blade, but how does this affect its durability? Just to be clear, I'm not concerned with the blade breaking in half. Rather, is a sanded blade less resistant to surface wear from dueling? I would imagine it would be more prone to marks and impact abrasions because a sanded exterior is softer. After all, when you sand the blade, you're removing tiny bits of the outside.

Has anyone experimented with this? I don’t have anyone to experiment with right now to know how dueling can mar the surface of even an unmodified blade-tube. Does anyone have a picture of a heavily used and abused blade, sanded or unsanded, that they can share?

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

I sand the outsides of all my blades. Dueling really hasn't beat them up noticably IMO. And the great thing is, if they do get battered somewhat smoother, all you need to do is take sandpaper to them again and - good as new! (almost)

[Shadar Al'Niende]

On a side note (forgive me luke)

What grit does everyone like to use to sand their blades with?

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

600 grit is what I normally use. Most people use something a little rougher, something in the area of 400, I think. I just use 600 because that is what I have a good amount of on hand. It works for me.

[cardcollector]

I always thought you sanded the INSIDE of the blade.

Wouldn't a blade sanded on the outside make it... uncomfortable to get hit when dueling?

[FenderBender]

600 grit is great. Any lower and it gets TOO much. and dims it I think. CC, it doesn't change the texture so much as it gets rid of the outer glare from outside light sources and diffuses the blade light enough to make it look fuller.

[Jedi-Loreen]

No cc, it doesn't rough up the blade that much. :rolleyes:

It's also a lot easier to evenly sand the outside of a blade.

I use 400 grit on my TCSS battle blades and go around the diameter, not down the length. It can give a slight effect like the Corbin film does when you do it that way. But you need a little coarser grit to make the "lines" around the tube.

[Clockwork]

I'm going to have to go with CC on this one. I always sand the inside of my blades with a sandblaster (granted, this makes it easy to get it evenly sanded). I have both outer and inner sanded blades and there is no comparison. The inner sanding completely gets rid of the "light in a tube" look.

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

I actually do both. I sand the outside and sandblast the inside. It can really make a difference with a 3/4" blade, since it helps cause the whole blade to light up, not just the inside.

[Count Malik]

I also have sanded my some blades, i have mixed emotions about them however. In some cases it helped and in others it didn't... but in the term of dueling... no they dont show any dents chips... a few scraches though (but its polycarbonite it will scrach eventually... when dueling) but its hardly noticable and doesn't take any effect of color out of the blades brightness.:cool:

[FenderBender]

IMO, sanding the inside still leaves the problem of glare from the outside of the tube which makes it easy to get a washed out look from outside light sources. Sanding both IMO again will just diffuse too much, causing a loss of brightness. But, to each his own.

[ArkaiHalon]

all my blades are sanded with 2 grits of sandpaper.
it really helps with the "light in a tube" effect and producing a nice retraction effect. And as was stated if it gets scuffed, i sand it again.

you can actually get slightly different effects depending on how you sand it. around the diameter, along the length, at an angle. it's fun to play with.

[Shadar Al'Niende]

and producing a nice retraction effect

retraction effect?

[FenderBender]

yeah, only on boards or drivers that support the dimming/retraction effect.

Doesn't really add a whole lot to the experience though

[Eco]

In the past I've tried sanding the inside of a thinwalled 1" blade using a piece of sandpaper on a dowel, spun about with a hand drill.
I got to sand part of it, but it just wasn't enough. For someone who doesn't have a sandblaster, would putting some sand in the tube and just using an air compresser to blow the sand around produce a comparable effect?

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

It would take a long time.

You would put some sand in, then blow it out. Put more sand in, blow it out. Repeat. For probably around two hours. If you have the end of the blade capped, the sand will probably just spray in your face (which it might do in any case!)

If you already have an air compressor, all you need is like a $20 sand blast attachment from harbor freight.

[Eco]

What about capping off both ends, leaving just a small hole for the excess air to escape?

At the moment, I'm unemployed, and $20 for something that I may only use once is more than I can afford.

Unless I can find a multitude of uses for it. Can't a sand blasting gun be used for media blasting something in the same manner that Tim offers as a service?
The added options of that might be enough to make it worth an investment.

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

Since the sandblasting I've done is normally around 90 psi, I tend to think any hole big enough for air to go through is big enough for sand to go through (actually it's not "sand," it's a sort of glass bead, and it's extremely finely grained). I don't think using less psi would work, it wouldn't be strong enough to make an impact on the polycarbonate. Once when my air compressor was broken, I put tape on both ends of the tube and a decent amount of sand inside, shook it around like a rain stick. :p Nothing happened: the sand made no impact on the polycarbonate, at least not noticeably.

As for using the gun for media blasting: I don't know, because I haven't tried. I don't have a box or anything to do it in, and I don't want all that sand flying back into my face.

[Eco]

Well, my dad's picking up a new blasting gun from Harbor Freight and some glass media.

Turns out we did have a gun, but were missing the tank/bag.

We'll see how this turns out.

[Eco]

How long should I be sand blasting this for?
Until desired effect is achieved?

[Luke-SkyMarcher]

Yeah. It can take a while - especially if your air compressor can't maintain the high psi for very long. Then you have to do it in short bursts followed by waiting. :roll:

I don't know about a 1" thinwall, but in the blades I've done it hasn't done it evenly; that is, the end closest to the gun gets finished faster. It eventually reaches a point where it doesn't get any more frosted. You just keep going until the whole blade is even.

It also helps if you switch the blade around and go from the other end part of the time.

Have fun!

[Obi-Ben]

There's a lot of interesting information here about *how* to sand, but I'm still hoping someone might show the results--specifically how sanded blades handle wear from combat and dueling. Pictures would be great.

[Eco]

Well, off the top of my head, I know that Vargose has sanded the outside of his blade. You could talk to him about it.

Well, I sandblasted the inside of my thinwalled blade, and it's much better than it was before. I originally tried to sand the inside with some emery cloth stapled to a wooden dowel. It sanded, but nowhere near evenly.

I'm also gonna experiment to see how the colored blades look when they're exterior sanded.

[B5813]

I sanded the inside of a blade using the same method Eco pointed out... sand paper around a long, wooden dowel and turned slowly with a drill. Worked great for eliminating that light in a tube effect. The LED lit out to the edge of the tube making it look full.

[Rb-wan Organus]

I have tried 600 and 400 grit on my blades recently and to me ... both made a significant difference, however I prefer the 600 grit. It appears to bring the light all the way out to the edge. The 400 didn't seem to be as bright. And I haven't noticed anymore scratches or nicks than usual when dueling.

[Charmaynard]

Does anyone have any pics of Sanded Vs. Non-Sanded? I'd love to see for comparison.

[Count Malik]

yep id do but it would take until sunday morning to get the pics though :(