Inovatec MachineryBatch Processing for Knife Polishing

Knife Polishing Machine – Definitive Guide

Are you involved in a business dealing with knives or swords? If yes, then this guide is for you. Inovatec machinery offers some of the best knife polishing machines in the market. There are various models to choose from based on your requirements.

1. What Is the Traditional Way of Polishing Knives?

The traditional way of knife polishing involves rubbing the knife with an abrasive cloth using a liquid polish. Some use a diamond sharpening stone tool for knife polishing. So, it requires lots of manual work.

2. What Is a Knife Polishing Machine?

Knife polishing machine is an equipment that polishes knives with minimum human intervention. You will have to feed the machine with the knives and the cleaning media.

3. Why Use a Knife Polishing Machine?

Let us have a look at the different advantages of using a knife polishing machine vs. the traditional knife polishing method in business.

3.1 Saves Time

The traditional method of polishing involves lots of time since only one knife can be polished at a time. A knife polishing machine will help you to save time with its ability to polish multiple knives at a time.

3.2 Professional Finish Quality

It is tough to achieve the mirror-like finish quality on knives with the traditional method. You will get a professional level finish quality with automatic knife polisher equipment.

3.3 Cost Saving

You need to make a one-time investment in a knife polishing and dryer machines. You can use the abrasive media multiple times for polishing. So, there is less wastage.

The number of knives polished is more when compared to the traditional method. You will find this solution cost-effective in the long run.

3.4 Not Labor Intensive

The traditional knife polishing method is a labor-intensive process. You need to employ multiple persons to do the polishing work simultaneously to get the same yield.

A single person can efficiently operate a knife polishing machine.

3.5 Labor Dependence

Traditional polishing method demands for skilled labor. So, you need to train your workers.

No specific labor training is needed to operate a knife polishing machine. So, you don’t have to depend on labor skills.

3.6 Damage-Free Polishing

There is a chance that the knife may get damaged during the polishing process in the traditional method. It is due to human error.

This error can be eliminated if you use a knife polishing machine. Excellent mechanical strength is guaranteed with the use of any of the Inovatec knife polishing machines. Machine polishing will not weaken the existing knife strength.

3.7 Batch Polishing 

You don’t have to polish one knife at a time anymore. The batch processing feature allows you to load a batch full of knives into the machine and get it polished quickly together.

3.8 Less Maintenance Cost

The maintenance cost is very less since these machines can be repaired easily using the standard tools. No special tools are required for the repair works.

4. What Are Different Types of Knife Polishing Machines?

You need to use a finishing machine along with a dryer machine to complete the polishing process. Inovatec offers four different models for knife deburring and finishing machines. You can invest in any of these machines based on your knife volume and material type. You can use the vibratory dryer with any of these machines.

4.1 Vibratory Finishing Machine

The vibratory finishing machine comes with a separator that allows you to feed the machine with knives in batches. It also allows you to collect the knives after finishing without touching them with your hand.

It can tumble hundreds of knives to get the best finishing. Inovatec has over 25 years of experience in building such vibratory tumblers.

4.2 Vibratory Deburring Machine

Vibratory deburring machine is actually the vibratory finishing machine without the separator deck. You can use it for deburring/polish knives.

You need to take the knives out manually after polishing. You can invest in this machine if your business deal with big-sized knives.

4.3 Centrifugal Barrel Finishing Machine

If you are looking for a highly efficient knife polishing machine, then the centrifugal barrel finishing machine is for you.

It guarantees the removal of unwanted materials from the knife by aggressive deburring. Thus, high gloss polishing is achieved.

4.4 Rotary Barrel Tumbler Machine

Inovatec recommends the rotary barrel tumbling machine if you have a huge volume of knives to be polished. It is mainly targeted towards big-sized knife industries and manufacturers.

It is a cost-effective solution since cleaning and polishing are done economically. This machine is capable of doing heavy deburring as well as light smoothing and fine polishing. You can also run it continuously for 24 hours.

4.5 Vibratory Dryer

Vibratory dryer from the Inovatec machinery is the recommended solution for drying knives after vibratory finishing. It removes the moisture and dirt from the knives. It uses the heat and dry method with corn cob tumbling media.

You can use this machine in the last stage of the polishing process. Thus, you will get a professionally polished knife at the end.

5. What Are the Different Knife Types Supported For Polishing?

Inovatec machines can polish different types of knives. Some of the commonly used knife types are given below.

5.1 Stainless Steel Knives

Stainless steel knives are the most commonly seen ones in the market. They are popular because of their durability and corrosion-free features.

There will be some imperfections in stainless steel knives after the forging process. So, polishing is essential to give a shiny finish.

Stainless steel is a hard material. So, you need to ensure that polishing is done correctly. The vibratory tumbler with the right tumbling media is the best solution from Inovatec Machinery to clean and polish stainless steel knives.

5.2 Titanium Knives

Features like lightweight and high strength make titanium knives popular. Titanium knives are expensive since it is a precious metal.

Its toughness makes it hard to polish. You can load the titanium knives along with zirconium plastic tumbling media into a vibratory machine for polishing.

5.3 Bronze Knives

Bronze knives are esthetically pleasing knives because of their color.

Both centrifugal barrel finishing machine and vibratory finishing machine can polish brass knives. You don’t need hard abrasive tumbling media to polish them.

5.4 Kitchen Knives

Kitchen knives are made of different materials. It includes stainless steel, carbon steel, or a mix of both. So, you need to understand the material first and use suitable tumbling media to polish kitchen knives.

Vibratory finishing machines, centrifugal barrel finishing machines, and rotary barrel tumbler machines are suitable for kitchen knife polishing. You can make the selection based on knife quantity.

5.5 Tactical Knives

Tactical knives come under a different grade. High-carbon stainless-steel is one of the popular materials used in such knives.

You need to be very careful while polishing such knives. Some knives don’t want a mirror-like shine. So, use a vibratory finishing machine with a high abrasive media.

Others require a mirror finish. You can use a centrifugal barrel finishing machine with less abrasive media for such knives.

5.6 Chef Knives

Chef knife is used for cutting and chopping vegetables. It is also used for slicing meat. Carbon steel is a commonly used material. Some knives also come with stainless-steel material.

A Centrifugal barrel machine or a rotary barrel machine is best suited for polishing chef knife made of carbon steel. A close lid tumbler is an ideal choice. You can feed the machine with knives, tumbling media, and water for polishing. It will take some time to polish, which can be around half an hour to a few hours.

Any vibratory tumbler is suitable for stainless steel chef knives.

5.7 Forged Knives

Forged knives are generally made of steel. Different grades of steel are used depending on the end application. Forging involves dropping the hammer on a heated steel bar to apply pressure to make it a knife.

So, proper polishing is essential after the forging to make the knife shine. Any vibratory tumbler with less abrasive media is good to polish forged knives.

5.8 Stamped Knives

Stamped knives are thinner and lighter than forged knives. They are less expensive also. They are made by cutting a blade shape from a steel sheet using a hydraulic press.

You need to take proper care while polishing stamped knives since they are lighter. Proper selection of the vibratory tumbling media is essential. Any of the Inovatec machines are suitable to polish stamped knives.

5.9 Carbon Steel Knives

Carbon steel knives are alloy knives made of carbon and iron. They are susceptible to stains and discoloration.

Inovatec vibratory tumbler machines can polish carbon steel knives.

5.10 Ceramic Knives

Ceramic knives are made of zirconia. It is harder than stainless steel or carbon steel. It is also rust-free and odor-free.

So, you should use the right tumbling media with ceramic knives. A centrifugal barrel finishing machine or a rotary barrel tumbling machine is suitable for ceramic knives.

5.11 Damascus Steel Knives

Damascus steel knives are stronger than other steel knives. They are made by mixing two or more alloys in a wavy pattern.

You need to get a mirror-like shine on Damascus knives. So, a less abrasive media is best suited for Damascus knife polishing. You can use the centrifugal barrel finishing machine from Inovatec.

5.12 Carving Knives

A carving knife is a slim and long knife that is tapered at the end. It is also called a slicing knife.

5.13 Butcher Knives

Butcher knives are rectangular-shaped knives that are used to cut meat. They are big and bulky.

A vibratory deburring machine, along with a vibratory dryer, will be the perfect combination for butcher knives polishing. You can select any tumbling media according to the knife blade material.

5.14 Table Knives

Table knives are cutlery knives. It will come in various materials like stainless steel, brass, copper, silver, and gold. So, you can select your knife polishing machine accordingly.

5.15 Gold Knives

Gold knives are precious. These are ornamental knives that are used as showpieces or antiques.

Proper care must be taken to polish gold knives. You have to ensure that you don’t remove too much gold while polishing.

5.16 Automatic Knives

It is an automatic knife where the blade opens automatically once the switch is pressed. These knives are known by different names like a switchblade, pushbutton knife, spring knife, etc.

Different switchblades come with different materials based on the use case. So, you can use the machine and tumbling media accordingly.

5.17 Swords

Swords are mostly made up of steel. The steel of multiple grades is used to achieve the desired strength. Stainless steel, carbon steel, and alloy steel are commonly used materials.

You should know the sword material before the polishing process. You can select the tumbling media and sword polishing machine based on this input. Inovatec machines are suitable for polishing most of the sword materials.

6. What Types of Vibratory Tumbling Media Is Used for Knife Polishing?

Vibratory tumbling media are abrasive materials that are added to the knife polishing machine along with the knives for polishing. Inovatec guarantees high-quality tumbling media with the help of strict quality measures in production.

7. Different Types of Vibratory Tumbling Media for knife Polishing

Inovatec offers different varieties of vibratory tumbling media. Inovatec recommends four media for knife finishing and polishing. It comes in various sizes. You can select the media size according to your knife size. You can also get a custom size on request.

7.1 Ceramic Tumbling media

Ceramic tumbling media is useful to remove flashes, loose burr, edge breaking, and corrosion removal. Its ability to absorb and carry the compounds used for polishing makes it an excellent choice.

They are ceramic stones cut in different shapes. The shapes include ellipse, star, pyramid, ball, wedge, cylinder, triangle, etc. So, the options are plenty. Various grades are also available with varying abrasive strengths.

7.2 Plastic Tumbling media

Plastic tumbling media is made of resins and abrasives. If you are planning to polish brass or aluminum knives, then plastic tumbling media is the best option.  Inovatec offers cone, tetrahedron, tri-star, paraboloid, triangle, and pyramid shapes in this category.

You can also go with the zirconium plastic tumbling media if you are polishing titanium knives.

7.3 Porcelain Tumbling media

Porcelain tumbling media is suitable for knives made of soft and expensive materials like gold and silver. It consists of aluminum oxide.

They don’t apply too much pressure on knives like other media. So, a smooth polishing without too many wear and tear is guaranteed. Different shapes offered by Inovatec include triangle, tri-star, cylinder, and ball shapes.

7.4 Corn Cob Tumbling Media

Corn cob tumbling media is derived from a natural abrasive material. It is also called maize tumbling media. You can use it in the vibratory dryer, which comes in the last stage of knife polishing.

Corn cob absorbs the extra moisture, water droplets, and dirt from the knife surface. It is an environmentally friendly and biodegradable material. You need to replace the corn cob once it turns black.

Now you know how a knife polishing machine works and the different types of knives it can polish. Inovatec also offers the best tumbling media with different varieties. So, consider investing in the best knife finishing and polishing machines to improve your business productivity.