Harbor freight 1 by 30 belt grinder

It's a start, I had a similar one and it worked decent enough for my first few knives. Limited selection of belts available. I would probably spend that money on some decent files and sand paper instead. They will last longer and still be useful down the road once you have quickly outgrown the 1x30
 
Grayzer86 said:
It's a start, I had a similar one and it worked decent enough for my first few knives. Limited selection of belts available. I would probably spend that money on some decent files and sand paper instead. They will last longer and still be useful down the road once you have quickly outgrown the 1x30
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Thanks, I'm just hoping it will get me some 90 degrees all around for my blanks and do some decent bevels with a jig. I ordered some of the nicer belts I could find.
 
I have been having pretty good luck with mine. I'm on knife 15 now and am finding it to cut blades and scales nicely. Can't wait until I get around to getting or making a full size grinder of course but still learning lots with what I have! I grind blades clamped to a piece of angle iron and use the table adjustment to dial in the grind. Oh, and be sure to get a file guide... essential for getting clean/even plunges with this grinder.
 
StuNY said:
I have been having pretty good luck with mine. I'm on knife 15 now and am finding it to cut blades and scales nicely. Can't wait until I get around to getting or making a full size grinder of course but still learning lots with what I have! I grind blades clamped to a piece of angle iron and use the table adjustment to dial in the grind. Oh, and be sure to get a file guide... essential for getting clean/even plunges with this grinder.
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What belts would u recommend I got 40 grit 80 grit and 150 grit I'm thinking 40 grits for 90 degrees angles all around to make my blank and 80 grit on my bevel I'll use a jig and 150 for just some light polishing on the blade
 
Good quality belts are important- I went through a bunch at first that had bumpy seams which caused a lot of problems.
For grinding blades I use:

Blaze 60 grit for roughing the profile, 120 for cleaning up the profile. Then back to 60 for making the initial grind of bevels, and finishing with 120. Heat treat. Back to 120 to clean up grind. Then Norax #U264 100x, 45x, 15x. I go to 5x if I plan to polish to mirror with leather strop. Lately though I have been using the scotchbrite very fine belt for a satin finish so stop at 45 or 15x.
With a little looking around you will find you can get most good belts in the 1x30 size. Don't forget to get a leather belt for final sharpening and polishing.
 
StuNY said:
Good quality belts are important- I went through a bunch at first that had bumpy seams which caused a lot of problems.
For grinding blades I use:

Blaze 60 grit for roughing the profile, 120 for cleaning up the profile. Then back to 60 for making the initial grind of bevels, and finishing with 120. Heat treat. Back to 120 to clean up grind. Then Norax #U264 100x, 45x, 15x. I go to 5x if I plan to polish to mirror with leather strop. Lately though I have been using the scotchbrite very fine belt for a satin finish so stop at 45 or 15x.
With a little looking around you will find you can get most good belts in the 1x30 size. Don't forget to get a leather belt for final sharpening and polishing.
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Thanks, I'm gonna order a blaze 120. Since I can't afford many others at my young age and low budget. I'm gonna go 40 to profile then the 120 blaze to clean up the profile then heat treat 120 to clean up then final finish with some leather belts.
 
Erdbeereis said:
You'll want to go to at least 220 or 400. 150 is a pretty rough finish.
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I wouldn't attempt to finish a blade on the HF 1x30. I've only got one blade under my belt, I did like StuNY suggests but with the belts HF had in stock: 40 grit to clean up the profile and rough the bevels, then 120 to clean up the bevels, heat treat, 120 to get the bevels cleaned up again. Then went at it with 150/220/320 hand sanding (on the bevels).

I wouldn't want to use the 1x30 for the profile from scratch. The HF portable band saw makes quick work of rough cutting the profile. Yay for crap tools!
 
zhyla said:
I wouldn't attempt to finish a blade on the HF 1x30. I've only got one blade under my belt, I did like StuNY suggests but with the belts HF had in stock: 40 grit to clean up the profile and rough the bevels, then 120 to clean up the bevels, heat treat, 120 to get the bevels cleaned up again. Then went at it with 150/220/320 hand sanding (on the bevels).

I wouldn't want to use the 1x30 for the profile from scratch. The HF portable band saw makes quick work of rough cutting the profile. Yay for crap tools!
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Thanks for the tips I'm gonna use a combination of what you did and stuny thanks for all the great tips guys. And crap tools yes haha. But I'll be able to make it look sexy with some kirinite it makes anything look good. And my friends who know nothing about knifes will buy any day ha. But I'm looking forward to improving my quality with the methods suggested anything beats then my frost attempt with a bench grinder hand Made forge and files. I'll definetly be able to make a better knife then before with all the stuff I ordered.
 
Jamesmyers14 said:
Thanks for the tips I'm gonna use a combination of what you did and stuny thanks for all the great tips guys. And crap tools yes haha. But I'll be able to make it look sexy with some kirinite it makes anything look good. And my friends who know nothing about knifes will buy any day ha. But I'm looking forward to improving my quality with the methods suggested anything beats then my frost attempt with a bench grinder hand Made forge and files. I'll definetly be able to make a better knife then before with all the stuff I ordered.
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I believe that there are several issues with this post directly. First of all tools don't make the knife, we do. I could walk into Nick wheelers fully set up shop, and will never stand a chance of making knives on his level. Second, there have been many excellent knives made for hundreds of years with what amounts to basic hand tools. Thirdly you should not be content to sell sub par knives to people who do not know anything about knives. I find that not only misguided but also offensive and shady. Sure, there are people who do that and make money, but it is that same group of people that give custom knives a bad name. They blur that line that people don't understand between home made and hand made. It's people like that with that mind set that hurt us knifemakers that care about providing the best possible product we are able to build.
 
Grayzer86 said:
I believe that there are several issues with this post directly. First of all tools don't make the knife, we do. I could walk into Nick wheelers fully set up shop, and will never stand a chance of making knives on his level. Second, there have been many excellent knives made for hundreds of years with what amounts to basic hand tools. Thirdly you should not be content to sell sub par knives to people who do not know anything about knives. I find that not only misguided but also offensive and shady. Sure, there are people who do that and make money, but it is that same group of people that give custom knives a bad name. They blur that line that people don't understand between home made and hand made. It's people like that with that mind set that hurt us knifemakers that care about providing the best possible product we are able to build.
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I didn't say they would be sub par they would be to the best of my abilities right now as a knife maker and I'd fully tell them that I wouldn't just say this is a 5000$ knife and is amazing handmade I'd explain that this was hand made and not the greatest knife in the world but will get done what your using It for. I'm not trying to sound mean and see where your coming from. And I know there's many amazing knife made from basic tools. I just perform better on power tools and is my proffered method for wood working and other things I like to do.
 
I have one, but it's on kydex and sharpening duty. Its the best knife sharpener in the world.

To be honest, I'd save my money and get a 2x72 machine if you want to take a serious crack at knifemaking.
 
I started with that sander (I refuse to call it a grinder). Frankly, it is a poor tool for stock removal no matter what belts you use. But it does have some uses. Mostly I used mine for handle shaping and finishing. It also served some duty in profiling. But for bevel grinding, it has too little room to maneuver things on the platen and too little torque to be really effective.

My personal recommendation is not to use it for bevel grinding. Use files instead, until you can afford a grinder that is intended for metal working.

- Greg
 
I made my first couple dozen or so knives with the 1x30. IMO for what it costs it works pretty good. More fun than filing. Its no 2x72 but for small blades it will work. If I remember correctly i had to tighten set screw on drive wheel(was loose) Keep the tiny platen square. If platen is off just a little it will throw your grinding out of whack. Use light pressure while grinding the bevels. Take your time and don't rush.
Tim
 
I use one for stock removal, I bought better belts at Pop's. It works fine for grinding bevels, it just eats up the crappy belts fast.

it's not a very good grinder, but for $45 you can't beat it. I just ordered my first "real" grinder, and hopefully I will never have to use that 1x30 again, lol.
 
Josh Mason said:
I have one, but it's on kydex and sharpening duty. Its the best knife sharpener in the world.

To be honest, I'd save my money and get a 2x72 machine if you want to take a serious crack at knifemaking.
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If I get my grades up I might get some liner from my grandma which I could but a sears with
 
I would say to give it a shot. Right before I purchased my 2x72, I actually got that 1x30 cutting bevels in pretty well. I used a file guide to set my plunges in straight and even, established decent geometry for the bevels, and then used a magicut file to hone in the full flat or sabre grind. My recommendation is to slow down your process by using files and sandpaper. That 1x30 will make a mistake in less than a second (3260 fpm) that you will take 8 hours trying to fix; trust me on this one. Whatever you do, take your time and enjoy yourself. I found draw filing and hand sanding to be rather soothing.
 
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