Zirconia belts

allenkey

allenkey

Joined
May 19, 2018
Messages
203
So, I thought I'd get a discussion going on Zirconia belts and people's experiences with them.

I bought a ton of them on supergrit.com to try out. The grits they carry don't go higher than 180 grit. So I've mainly been using them in the coarser grits 100 and below.

I'll lay out my observations below and I hope others will chime in! I'm especially interested in if seasoned makers humor the use of zirconia belts at all! I haven't caught much wind of their use besides a video where Walter Sorrels mentioned he uses them on occasion.

Longevity - they definitely seem to last alot longer than aluminum oxide belts. I was able to use a worn 60grit belt for fine tuning profiles and the like until the tape joint failed (and it was still cutting!)

Cut rate - they are advertised as faster cutting than aluminum oxide. This may be the case but in the real world I could not tell a substantial difference between an equivalent grit aluminum oxide belt. Maybe slightly faster cutting. Does this measure up with anybody else's experience?

Heat build up - I actually find the zirconia belts to build up heat MUCH faster than an equivalent aluminum oxide belt. Am I doing something wrong?!

Scratch pattern - I have found the scratch pattern to be a tad more consistent/even than an aluminum oxide counterpart.

Is it worth the ~$1-$2 savings per belt to a standard ceramic belt? I'm not so sure.

I'm really curious to hear about what others think of them. Is there a specific use zirconia plays in anybody's shop? Is there an instance where anybody prefers them to ceramic, silicon carbide, or aluminum oxide? Humor my curiosity! :)
 
I only grind Stainless, mostly S35VN and Nitro V. I don't use a lot of pressure so the Norton Blaze grit does not fracture like it should - waste of money. Tru-grit said the zirconia will fracture at lower pressure so should last longer. Will be grinding a bunch of blades over the next couple of weeks - will let you know.
 
Zirconia gives a smooth finish. I use them occasionally on a brushed finish, but I mostly use scotchbrite for that now. I have a hard time finding AO belts lower than 80x, so I use 36x zirconia for hogging off handle materials.
 
tim37a said:
I only grind Stainless, mostly S35VN and Nitro V. I don't use a lot of pressure so the Norton Blaze grit does not fracture like it should - waste of money. Tru-grit said the zirconia will fracture at lower pressure so should last longer. Will be grinding a bunch of blades over the next couple of weeks - will let you know.
Click to expand...
Sounds good! I am curious how they do on those steels. I've only used low alloy carbon steels so far in my knifemaking journey
 
Willie71 said:
Zirconia gives a smooth finish. I use them occasionally on a brushed finish, but I mostly use scotchbrite for that now. I have a hard time finding AO belts lower than 80x, so I use 36x zirconia for hogging off handle materials.
Click to expand...
Interesting. They do certainly give a relatively smooth finish even in 60 grit which I can definitely appreciate. It doesn't seem as time consuming to get those scratches out.

Do you personally ever use them for grinding blades? If so, how did you like it ?
 
I grind my little folder blades with a 60g zirc belt. I also go to hand sanding right after that. If I do a good grind and it is flattish and I can hand sand it with 60g AO on a flat plate pretty quick, then alls good. If my grind is crap, I will go back with a 220g or higher AO belt and try to fix the grind a bit then go back to hand sanding. I mainly just don't like stocking a lot of different belts because I am a hobbyist.
 
allenkey said:
Interesting. They do certainly give a relatively smooth finish even in 60 grit which I can definitely appreciate. It doesn't seem as time consuming to get those scratches out.

Do you personally ever use them for grinding blades? If so, how did you like it ?
Click to expand...

I do mostly high carbide, or high hardness blades that are ground post heat treat. They wear out too quickly in that application. Sometimes even one or two passes.
 
I do not grind with a lot of speed and pressure. So I have been thinking I am not getting my money’s worth out of ceramic belts. I thought about Zirc belts but maybe not. What would you guys recommend?
 
Bob Duguay said:
I do not grind with a lot of speed and pressure. So I have been thinking I am not getting my money’s worth out of ceramic belts. I thought about Zirc belts but maybe not. What would you guys recommend?
Click to expand...
I did that for awhile, it works fine but when a zirc dies it is dead. When a ceramic is to dull to grind bevels with you can still use it for profiling due to it re fracturing. So I switched back to ceramics, currently using the VSM's .
 
I tried a bunch of zircs. I figured at a couple bucks apiece I couldn't go wrong...... Well I was wrong. I was told they had more consistent grit and left a nicer finish than ceramic, which may be true, but for the way I grind they just seemed to glaze over and stop cutting. I spend the little bit extra and use VSM 36, 60, 120 and then to Trizact 160.
 
Thanks for the input guys, I find abrasives to be an interesting subject. I'll have to look into these VSM belts after I use up the horde of zirc belts I bought.

The zircs aren't wearing out too fast for me but the highest alloy I go is 15N20 or 80CRV2 with alot of grinding pre-HT. I also have no experience with ceramic belts to compare to besides one I bought when I was still using a 4x36" belt 'sander' for my blades lol... and that thing just didn't have the power for ceramics.

My main worry with ceramics is after a couple dozen knives I'm still just starting to learn how to use pressure while grinding lol - so I worry I'm just going to glaze the ceramics over immediately. A bit embarrassing to admit but it is true.

I really do like the zircs for hogging micarta so far. I haven't tried them on wood yet but aluminum oxide is more than sufficient for most woods I use
 
Zirconia takes a lot of pressure to break down the grit so it cuts.
I use 24 grit to surface grind and not past that. If you go to far with it it will put some deep gits in your steel.
Also use 24-36 new belts to rough out wood handles. Again just barely take them to shape as that rough a grit takes off a lot of material.
Tale care
TJ Smith
 
I grind post HT and don’t care for the CZ belts for steel at all and they gouge out the wood deeply because they won’t fracture even the slightest against soft material. So for me, I’ll pass and stick with VSM Ceramic for Steels & Hermès A/O for my wood & Krinite Handle Work. Stay Safe & Have Fun!
 
allenkey said:
Thanks for the input guys, I find abrasives to be an interesting subject. I'll have to look into these VSM belts after I use up the horde of zirc belts I bought.

The zircs aren't wearing out too fast for me but the highest alloy I go is 15N20 or 80CRV2 with alot of grinding pre-HT. I also have no experience with ceramic belts to compare to besides one I bought when I was still using a 4x36" belt 'sander' for my blades lol... and that thing just didn't have the power for ceramics.

My main worry with ceramics is after a couple dozen knives I'm still just starting to learn how to use pressure while grinding lol - so I worry I'm just going to glaze the ceramics over immediately. A bit embarrassing to admit but it is true.

I really do like the zircs for hogging micarta so far. I haven't tried them on wood yet but aluminum oxide is more than sufficient for most woods I use
Click to expand...
Allen, everyone finds their own sweet spot with the kind of belts & grit used, Speed & Pressure.. you’ll find yours!
 
Just as a mater of clarity - the belts aren't CZ. They are AZ (Alumina Zirconia). This is a mix of aluminum oxide and zirconium oxide grains.
 
I tried some of those Norton Blue Fire zirconia belts for grinding titanium alloys, and found that:

-Heat buildup was rapid even with a new belt
-The belt grit surface was "slippery" and the titanium wanted to "skate" on the belt (begging for more pressure)
-Both of the above made it easier to mess up and accidently touch the belt
-Touching the moving belt resulted in instantly splattering a bunch of my skin and flesh all over the place, unlike ceramic belts which seem a lot more "soft" and sticky to the touch, a quality which grabs at the titanium, efficiently removing material (unlike the the zirc).

...but this was several years ago, so maybe I'll try them again. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top