1x30 Sander for Getting Started

Stark Knives

Stark Knives

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Mar 19, 2010
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I have a HF 1x30 belt sander and was wondering if that would work for starting out making knives. What do you guys think?
 
It will work to get you started for sure. That's what myself and many other makers started with and I still use mine for things like handles where the smaller belt is nicer for contours than my 2x72. I would suggest trying to source some ceramic or zirc belts for it as they will far outlast AO belts. Also I found they are a bit underpowered for heavy belts so I never went courser than 60 grit. Lower would be ok on wood and the like though.
 
Most around here will say save up for a 2x42 craftsman ($130) if you can, and I agree. It will outperform the HF grinder and your belts will last longer (and probably save some headache). BUT, if you want to go the super cheap option you definitely can use the HF 1x30 grinder. I had to go with it since I'm in an apartment and I have to use a quieter grinder that won't crowd out my workbench (plus I got it for free :D). There isn't much power to the HF but it will get the job done if you use higher quality belts; and there are many modifications floating around the internet that you can use to make it perform better. If desired, I can post some pictures of the bevels I can get with mine; I use a grinding jig to assist, but I'm quite pleased with the quality I'm getting out of a $40 machine.
 
thats what i use and it works great, great thing is that you can hook it up to a shop vac really easily to kill a lot of the dust.
 
Not a nice thing to bring up but, remember, that there will be sparks, and sucking them into a vacuum can easily produce a fire. Frank
 
I agree with Frank. Be careful it that is what you plan to do. An easy way to adress that is to hook up a 5 gallon pal, where you add a port to the lid to hook up the shop vac, and add a port to hook up a small metal duct to the dust port on the grinder. A little water in the bottom of the pal works wonders.
 
It's certainly better than nothing, that's for sure. I'm currently using the same one. Got it a couple of weeks ago and I've ground out around 8 knives using it. Each one has gotten progressively better... I'm at the point where I'm starting to be happy with the work I can produce on it. Things are getting to the point where I can actually produce something close to what I originally imagine/draw.

Just make sure you get some good belts. Going from using the crappy ones I could find in a store to Blaze belts definitely improved things (I mostly use the 60 and 120, the courser ones stalled out the belt far too often). Work went faster, cuts were cleaner, and they produce less heat.

You'll want to adjust a few things as you go. For one, the platen is garbage and poorly lined up. You'll want to tinker with it and bend it into a better position. Tracking wasn't great; the tape trick helped keep things a bit more stable. I removed the plastic side cover and discarded it. It doesn't fit well, so it was a pain to take it on and off every time I wanted to swap belts, and it works just fine without it. Plus, I had a couple of small fires start inside of the thing. Being able to see when it's getting clogged up inside so you can wipe it out is safer than having it hidden from view, in my opinion. If I didn't have a 2x72 paid for and in my future, I'd definitely look into other sorts of modifications. Not a bad machine, especially for the money. Beats hand filing or using an angle grinder.

I'd imagine it's easier to do what you want on a good grinder. Less variables to deal with. Things run a bit fast on the HF, so it's not very forgiving when you try and do anything precision. The unstable platen and wobbly belt makes keeping things flat and corners clean a bit difficult. Not a whole lot of room for maneuvering your hands around the sides, either. You can definitely get a feel for grinding and improve your skills on the machine, though. It's like learning to swim competitively at a beach vs. a pool. You're not going to be able to perfectly refine your technique as easily, since you're having to deal with the waves and unsteady water, but at least you're getting your feet wet.
 
I used a HF 1x30" for my first few knives and it'll work just fine. It's slow due to the lack of power but it's much faster/easier than files and it's cheap enough that it's not a waste of money. I still use mine for sharpening. Make sure you get some zirconia belts and check google for improvements/mods.
 
Ok here's a couple. These are the first two I've used the 1x30 sander on, still working on getting it down but it is leaps and bounds from using files. I may still go over them again with the files to true up the grind lines but the knife on top took me about 30-40 mins to put the bevel on both sides.

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The first power tool I used making knives was a 3x21ish belt sander upside down in a bench vise..... if you're a knifemaker you'll make knives no matter what.
 
Honestly the 1x30 would probably be safer to use than a 3x21 portable sander upside down in the vise. Not that it would produce better knives, but if the sander's speed/power is high and you want to keep your intestines from being perforated you might want to carefully consider what you use. With the upside down sander you'll always have the knife wanting to pull away from your body or pushing toward your body, with a vertical grinder you either have a table to rest your work or the knife is always being forced straight down towards your feet. That being said you possibly could take a portable sander and vertically mount it in your vise. Or make a rest for the horizontal grinder to keep your work against and keep it from flinging back towards your body. Whatever you start with, be smart and safe with it. Nothing kills a hobby faster than being sent to the ER.
 
Never said it was safe or desirable. That sander paid for a belt sanding attachment for a 6" bench grinder which in turn paid for a Burr King. This was also prior to tool stores like HF being easily available, sometime in the mid 90s.

A 1x30 can and has been used for making knives, you have to understand you can't hog metal with it, you will spend a lot of money on belts and will probably blow the motor with much use. The 2x42 is available at Sears for about $100 more and you will get a more useful tool.
 
I am college student so when I decided to start making knives as a hobby I wanted decent tools that would not break my small budget. I started and currently use a harbor freight 1x30 belt sander and it works well. Harbor freight is not great quality but it gets the job done and is great for a hobbyist or someone just getting started and experimenting like me. The one thing you so need to do is go to a knife supply webstore and order some quality belts. I use jantz knife supply.
 
shurik6 said:
What's the tape trick you are referring too?
Click to expand...

Wow, nice old thread bump! :D

I think weebus was referring to the "trick" where you put some tape or something on the top wheel so that it tracks better. It's kind of hard to explain...

Since I'm already in this thread, I'll go ahead and post a pic of my first three knives that I did with the HF 1x30. I know I was interested in a thread that would show an example, so here you go anyone in the future!

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Hey, you start where you're at, right?
I have one of those- all I use it for is sharpening at the farm market, but what a lot of work it's done for the money I paid. Usaknifemakers has Norax belts, and those things are iron- used one set for an entire season, thousands of knives.
With a J-flex belt you could do some cool work.
 
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