1x30" cork and felt belts vs leather belt

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fierostetz

Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
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Hi all- when researching 1x30 belt sharpening I saw several people asking about felt belts and cork belts vs leather belts, but no responses. The purpose of this post is to document my findings while experimenting with both of the aforementioned belts. I wanted an alternative to leather due to the frustration of the stretching belt and hit and miss performance of the surgi sharp leather belt.

1) felt, ordered from lee valley, loaded with green compound.
Pros:
-works a lot faster than leather + same compound
-much more consistent, less skipping than leather
-better feel; since it's consistent and doesn't skip, I get much better feedback from the sander
-quick to charge with compound
- no stretching

Cons:
- works a lot faster than leather (a mistake causes problems much more quickly than on leather)
-compound doesn't stay put; needs to be recharged fairly often (kept finding clumps of compound in my hair)
-no idea how I'd use more liquidy compounds, I.e. Dmt paste.

All in all I prefer felt to leather


2) cork (plain): (have not tested yet, will soon)
 
I've a cork belt for my belt sander. So far I'm not the biggest fan of using it plain, but lightly brushed with compound I've gotten very good results. I took one of my cork belts and mounted it to a board for a hand strop. Using my belt sander and a 320 grit belt I can quickly bring a knife up to "shaving" sharp when finishing it on the cork. Stropping by hand it gives good results on a coarse edge, but not so much when following a finer stone. I dabbled with the belt sander, but mostly use it just for reprofilling and larger blades. Don't have much experience with the felt, but do prefer the cork over leather for most jobs.
 
I really like the felt for much the same reasons as you. I put some mothers mag/aluminum polish on mine. I coated it really good and tried to rub it in the best I could then let it air out some overnight. Seemed to help quite a bit ... still stand back when you use it the first time though LOL. Lucky for me I have short/no hair :)
 
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