I decided to polish my blade today. I worked on it for an hour with emery compound and a wheel, and it just kept it's pewter appearance, and I nearly ruined my buffer wheel. So if you want a nice mirror polished blade, Track of the Wolf blades seem to not be a good idea. Atlanta Cutlery blades are the way to go for shiny polish. On the other hand... TotW blades are heavy and strong, and so are more utilitarian.