Any ideas for salvaging (or secondary uses for) old belts

M

Miles Undercut

Joined
Feb 29, 2008
Messages
187
I use Norton 60-grit belts, 2" x 72", for the initial grinds on my hollow-grinding. I can only get two blades, four sides, (c. 5") before the belts lose their initial sharpness and bite, and make it hard to stay inside the grind lines. Anybody out there know a way to refresh them, as a file card can do with a clogged file? (They have lotsa abrasive on them yet.) Or, if not, any ideas for another use? Many thanks. Signs that it might actually become Spring again someday soon here in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristos, on the western slope of the tailbone of the Rockies. Tra la!!
 
You could use them to to cut the edge bevel at 45 degrees when starting to grind a new knife (that part is really hard on belts). Then after you have done that with them a few times use them for profiling. Next step after that for me is throw them into the wood stove to get a bit of heat out of them for my shop.
 
have you tried using a crepe belt cleaner block?
woodworkers go through a lot of these.
think 2x2x12" eraser.
also - are your belts directional?
if not, you might try flipping them - again, old woodworking trick.
 
You can send all your "used" belts to me?... and I won't even charge you!... I think thats a good idea.:thumbup:

Rick:p
 
On larger grits, I use a star wheel grinder dressing tool to try and fracture the grits into sharper pieces. It works a few times to give a belt a bit more bite. I do this agains a flat platen, resting the dressing tool on the work rest and pressing into the running belt.

Even with these, I just use them for rough operations such as profiling or knocking the edges off when starting bevels.

--nathan
 
I use crepe blocks daily in my shop go for em' their very cheap and worth it as they last for a long time.
Richard winter.
 
Yeah, and definitely the belt cleaner blocks, though when a belt is really used up, no amount of cleaning will bring it back to life.

--nathan
 
silver_pilate said:
...when a belt is really used up, no amount of cleaning will bring it back to life....
Click to expand...

Yep. Then with the larger grits I cut them up in strips for sough shaping the handles. The smaller grits can also be cut up and used as backing for your higher grit sandpaper when doing the shoe shine thing.

After that all that is left is maybe some used belt soup but I haven't gotten to that point yet. ;)

Patrice

PS: I would not burn them myself. Wouldn't it make all kind of nasty stuff when burning? :confused:
 
i have taken a wheel dressing stick and rubbed a belt before to sharpen it up. it works in a pinch but you have to do it in sections until you make it all the way around. i do the same thing when the abrasive gets dull on my disc sander and i need to do a little more before changing discs.
 
I have a couple of the heavy backed ones that turned inside out and use to burnish the edges of my sheaths. After the sheath is done I clean up the edges with a sharp belt, then use the inside out belt and and one of the 2" wheels on the edges. It will burnish them up.
 
I have found that if I use a belt for flat grinding and then use the same belt for hollow grinding I get more life out of it. This is because when you change to a radius you are exposing the grit differently. You can then change to a different size wheel and expose more grit.

This works especially well with ceramic belts.
 
yep belt dressing, radius changes, flip belt ie direction its running, also getting the belts for reasonable prices and getting the right belt for the right material.
aluminum oxide belts are best for wood as metal tends to kill em quick
cz and silicone carbide belts for metal, these are more wear resistant but try to avoid using them with wood as they clog fast.
for a reasonable price on your basic belts http://barbkat.com/index.html
she's got some really great prices, cheap shipping, and is fast.
if your looking for the "best" belts, my personal experience is that the 3m 967f gold belts for low grit, 3m trizact for medium grits, and the 3m micron for high grits kick serious butt and last a loooong time but their a bit spendy at 10 8 and 6 respectively in the jantz catalog.
 
Many thanks, all! I will try to find the crepe belt cleaning blocks, and-- using my powers of extra sensory perception-- try to divine what remedies and/or uses Rick Marchand knows of.
 
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