An interesting Note about Grinding Belts

stephanfowler

stephanfowler

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Nov 14, 2005
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a thread I just looked at sparked a thought for me......

I use Norton Blaze 36, Gator 80, then JFlex- 220 / 400 on ALL of my knives

I've tried every other high quality 36 grit I can find and i still really prefer the Blaze belts.

I'm thinking that this has to do a lot more with MY grinder setup than the belts themselves,

What do you think are the major contributors to this, belts speed, platen surface, prior steel treatment, the phase of the moon?????



(I am using a 2x72 homebuilt NWG, 3600RPM 1.5HP running 3 step pulleys. almost entirely flat platen work w. an Ellis Ceramic liner)
 
How about the fact that your right arm weighs more than my entire body?


I'll bet how you're built, where your grinder is in relation to your body, and how one transfers energy to the other has just as much to do with it as all the rest!
 
I'm currently engaged in experiments to save even more time while working on knives! I'm hammering the blade while they're on the platen! :p

I dunno, if we were able to remove the human factor from grinding I think we'd be able to go a long way towards making valid apples to apples comparisons. Pretty sure that WE'RE the biggest factor in belts.
 
Matthew Gregory said:
How about the fact that your right arm weighs more than my entire body?


I'll bet how you're built, where your grinder is in relation to your body, and how one transfers energy to the other has just as much to do with it as all the rest!
Click to expand...

That's probably very true, it'd be interesting to do some tests with several guys working the same blade profile on the same grinder with the same types of belts and see how much technique effects belt life
 
A blind test, with the same skilled maker, grinding the same knives on different belts, without prior knowledge.
Then see what belt he prefers over the others.

I sometimes feel there might be, brand loyalty, involved; where you happen to have a good 6 months "run" at making knives and you equate it to the belts you are using; while all along it is because you were getting the heat treat right.:D

Most of the belts that are on the market have found a home here at some time over the last ten years.
I never buys seconds.

I am always looking for the "magic" belt:eek: that grinds on its own.:)

Its a good question.

Fred
 
All I know is, nothing grinds forged A2 like those Blazes. Nothing comes close.
 
I stopped using 36 grit belts for bevel grinding. I start at 60. Some of those deep scratches were getting really annoying.

Now I use the 36 grits for profiling, but once thats done, I hang em up.
 
I am always making my drop points is batches of 4-8 and there was not any belt that I tried which could make it through 4 knives until I tried the norton blaze. I had some other belts on the rack when I first purchased and burned them up quickly trying to get close to the production from them as a blaze.

I do believe that I get more life with a faster speed. This could be due to less pressure allowing the belt to cut without removing grit.
 
I use 3M 36 grit belts on an Olympic Square Wheel grinder. I cycle my 36's like this. New belt is for leather work and wood. When it starts burning these, I move it to bevel grinding. I can usually rough grind as many as five 7" to 9" blades. When I decide it's time for a better belt, I pass this one on to do profiling, and when it gets too slow for that, in the garbage. I think that much out of a belt is well worth the $4.00, or so it costs. A better quality belt would last even longer I'm sure, but the 3M is good enough for me.
 
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