Sanding Belts Discussion

B

Broken Forge

Joined
Jan 21, 2016
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I've seen plenty of posts about hand sanding paper and what works well for that, but I'm building my first 2"x72" grinder and what I'm looking for is people's opinion/ experience with different 2"x72" belts. What types (silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, zirconia alumina, ceramic etc) are good for what application? Does anyone use "structured" belts? What belts should I stay away from or are not suited for knife making? Most importantly, where can I get some decent belts at a reasonable price and are there places where I can order a handful of each grit and not have to order a case of 25? Any other useful info is appreciated as this is my first attempt outside of hand files and sanding. Thanks.
 
I like the 3m ceramic belts for low grit applications. The Trizacts are great finishing belts that a lot of people use, I just haven't been able to get into them. They seem really slow working to me. I like blue zircs for up to 220 grit (as high as I have found). Take a look at Trugrit you can order whatever quantity you want and they have an amazing selection.
 
Here's a bit for you, but this is a big subject. Did you try a search? I grind with low pressure and lower speeds I find I can't get the value out of the Norton ceramics that 3M ones will give me. For one of my local knife making friends it's just the opposite.Silicon carbide are not usually very good grinding belts for the metals we use, however they are the ones to use if you are working mammoth tooth. Ceramics don't work well at all on much of the mammoth tooth.
Belts are very much very much competitive in price for grit size and type.Sandpaper prices are based on area. The major brands in hand sanding paper I find very disappointing. One called the Rynowet Red Line from Switzerland out does those.
Frank
 
I have refined what I use down to a handful of belts. For roughing out profiles I use a merit ceramic in a corse grit. The ones I use are 40 grit, I got a bunch at one time. I like these belts and for the price thy are hard to beat. I do my 2nd Amendment knives in batches and usually get 5-8 profiles per belt. These knives are ground out of 1/4" thick X 1.75" wide 5160 barstock so it's a good amount of material to remove. I use Norton blaze belts for edge bevels but I use a used belt to break the edge to a 45° first. This keeps the edge from stripping grit off my blaze belt. But I also have a bunch of blaze belts so that's why I use them. After I use them all up I might switch to the merit for everything. After that go to a A300 gator belt (80 grit). These belts last forever, but seperate them into use. I have a rack of gator belts for general blade cleanup and another rack for just edge bevels. I also use the gator belts for the flats on the blade. I will grind the edge bevel and then use a magnet to hold the blade and grind the flats on the platen. Then I just keep going up through the gator grits making sure to grind edge bevel first then flat and stop at eather 65 or 45. Then I use a Hermes 400 grit J-Flex and smooth the plunge cuts if needed but most of the time I smooth them out with the gators by that time. I use the J-Flex for hitting the spine and breaking edges along the profile. But these belts are sooooo cheap get a few in a few grits and find out which one you like. I love these belts, thy are really nice for handle work to in a slack belt setup. When it come time to sharpen I use Norton norax belts and go up to 3000 grit, it's a white belt. Then a light kiss on a baldor buffer with a hard wheel and green compound and oh baby.
That's about it for what I use 99% of the time on the grinder. Handle work and hand rubbing blades requires hand sanding and so I have a variety of sheets in grits from 220 up to 1500 grit.
Hope this helps, but there are lots of ways to skin a cat. Find what works for you and enjoy
 
Everything you need to know to get started as well as sample belt orders. Immensely helpful
 
Tkrocky. Thanks for that link it answered most of my questions.Is that in the stickies? I don't remember seeing it.
 
Still wondering about the "structured" belts. I found them in the Mcmaster catalog. They look like they are patterned and the description says they leave clean lines and are good for stainless and other metals. Thanks again.
 
That's what I was talking about above. Gator belts are structured, looks like a much of tiles on the belt. Thy leave a great finish as long as you use them right. Also I just sharpened a knife for shipping out today and I eyeballed my belt for it and I use a 45 micron norex belt to set the secondary edge bevel and then hit it with a 5 micron norax then a buffer. Crazy sharp!
 
I LOVE the 3M cubitron II ceramics for rough work 36-120grit, the 3M "Gator" AO belts for 200 and higher grit for flats and rough finishing bevels. Even though the "gator"s are aluminum oxide they seem to have a long lifespan and have a distinctly different shape than the other "structured" belts that let more air in when grinding. Like JTKnives I move to the Jflex belts for finishing bevels and cleaning up plunges. The J-flex are so easy to get into that tight corner for the plunge and are $2-4 a belt. I also use Jflex belts for handle work since they can bend around corners so easily.

One suggestion I would make is to keep the belts you use for steel and belts you use for handle work separate. In my limited experience once I gum up my Jflex belts with wood they and they just don't cut steel anywhere near as well as the ones I've only used on steel... Also old worn belts are handy to keep around for breaking edges.
 
That's the easy part... buy once, cry once.

Lol, welcome aboard! Don't forget your respirator, eye and ear protection.
 
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