2x72 Scotch Brite belts

anvilring

anvilring

Joined
Nov 29, 2000
Messages
2,869
Anyone had any experience w/these belts? and if so, which brand?

Do you have any pix of the finish they produce?

I'm looking for a "Randall" knife finish. Of course Randall might be using a wheel; I don't know.

I see these for just $19 each.

https://www.empireabrasives.com/2-x...MI7d3f6Luz3QIViDlpCh0-UwFPEAYYASABEgLVYvD_BwE

And then there's the original ones by 3M (I assume....). Also, where do you buy'em? Trugrit doesn't carry them; who does? the 3M brand or, whatever you can attest?

regards, mitch
 
I use a Super fine grit for a finish. You need to be careful because they stretch tremendously. I know there is a gentleman in Texas that has the Scotchbrite with a backing that keeps it from stretching but do not know his name. Maybe someone from the Texas Guild can jump in.

I also like to use a fine belt to clean oil residue off the blade after I have quenched any high carbon blades.
 
Russ Andrews said:
Pop's carries them. No pics, but they can leave an even satin finish.
Click to expand...
Russ, from what last grit? Like from 320? My goal is to go from 320 being ground lengthwise, too horizontal lines blade tip up, like Randall does. This is for less expensive knives. I hand sand a lot of stuff and unlike others on this site, it's not Zen to me. Zen is whisky with a single (rinsed) ice cube.... hand sanding is hard work. Especially at 64, my thumbs can hardly take it. On the Randall website, it says they use a glued up Emory buff as a final finish. I have everything to do that, just haven't tried it in a long time. I did some smaller glued up Emory Buff's in the past but they were only like 4 inch buffs.
 
I have some of the scotch bright belts, but have not used them for blade finishing....well
except for one K390 blade.....that didn't work well......As for grits, I think where to leave off with
the abrasive belts and pick up with scotch bright would just need some experimentation. The scotch bright
belts are soft and not nearly as aggressive as one might expect...….Do you have variable speed...?
As for hand sanding, I now use a 3/4' sq. aluminum bar......maybe 10" long, and strips of paper 1 1/2" wide, folded in
half for 3/4 x 9 double sided strips. Most of the push or pull is with the heel of my hands / or fingers...much easier on my thumbs.
 
I don't know if I'm understanding correctly, but scotch brite belts are not aggressive enough to create a new scratch pattern. So you need to have the scratches from the last belt before scotch brite going in the direction you want.
 
extra fine is too damn fine IMO. For how clean and high grit you have to get the blade at that point just do a clean hand sanded 1200grit. Fine and even medium if you don't bear down like a gorilla work well.

I will second using some sort of bar for hand sanding. I have a 8 inch 1.25" wide piece of mild steel for that. fold over a rectangle of paper and hold with your fingertips. One side of the bar is bare steel and the other has 1/8" hard ish rubber for some give.
 
I've got/made every kind of bar/stick/and dowl for hand sanding... many w/leather of various thickness glued to it... it's still a lot of work and my hands are old. I did find that a huge farrier's rasp (or worn out 10' mill file) w/the file side ground down just a little w/a 320 belt cuts like the devil. It works like a serrated wheel does on your grinder. I just use it for the heavier grits. I've always had my eye out for a rigid, corrugated/grooved "something" in hard plastic to use for same but have yet to find anything.
Yea you almost can't get too big a stick for hand sanding; but the part that doesn't change is "how" to hold the paper on the stick!
 
You might want to give die-polishing stones a try. I find they make hand finishing A LOT faster. You'll still need to use sandpaper for the final finish, but it really reduces wear and tear on the body.
 
Hmmm... on the die polishing stones, I found this:

https://www.moldshoptools.com/catalog/list.php?category_id=65

Most of these are 1/4 inch! mostly all small.
The largest I found on the site are the "rough out" stones, which are 2x1x8. I guess that's 2" wide? and how much pressure can you put on one? I push fairly hard. I would surly break the little ones. The rough outs though look usable.

BorideRoughOutStones.JPG
 
I use "N" diemaker stones from Falcon Tool. https://www.falcontool.com/PublicStore/product/N-Diemaker-Stones,22,116.aspx

I like the 1/4" x 1" x 6", but they also have ones in 1/2" thickness. You can use them in different orientations, but usually I use it vertically, angled about 45 degrees, and scrub evenly down the whole blade. I like using a water/dish soap/baking soda solution as the lubricant. I'm not an expert as using them by any means, but they are quite aggressive.
 
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