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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Apex Ultimate Deal
- Thread starter Doug C
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- Mar 15, 2005
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- 26,811
All you guys that posted,THANKS!Was away a couple days,received Apex a little earlier today,watched the video.Set it up.Sharpened three knives and they all cut paper,just like in the video.Great system.Oh,yeah.One Stainless,one Damascus and a 1095 carbon steel.Again fella's,thanks.
Cliff Stamp
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- Oct 5, 1998
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- 17,562
I would not get into belt sanders for sharpening, they work well for actually shaping an edge, but are way overkill for restoring a blunt edge unless you need major metal removal.
That being said, with the state of many NIB knives, they tend to be fairly useful. Plus if you actually use your knives they come in handy for repairing the occasional damage or just really heavy blunting.
Overheating isn't a concern unless you try to rush, if you keep your fingers on the edge then you can't have a problem because the metal can get a lot hotter than you before it has a problem.
That being said, a stone can't hook into a knife and send it flying. I have never had a problem, but it is a much greater hazard than using a Sharpmaker, but likely less dangerous than driving your car to the store to buy one in the first place.
-Cliff
That being said, with the state of many NIB knives, they tend to be fairly useful. Plus if you actually use your knives they come in handy for repairing the occasional damage or just really heavy blunting.
Overheating isn't a concern unless you try to rush, if you keep your fingers on the edge then you can't have a problem because the metal can get a lot hotter than you before it has a problem.
That being said, a stone can't hook into a knife and send it flying. I have never had a problem, but it is a much greater hazard than using a Sharpmaker, but likely less dangerous than driving your car to the store to buy one in the first place.
-Cliff
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- Mar 15, 2005
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Cliff S.,Hey.Wasn't planning on belt sander,maybe down the road,but not now.I understand there are some very good low RPM sanders that are good for a variety of blade applications.Gettin' a little off the thread,sorry!This forum is so cool and informative and the forumites are so experienced and willing to share,I thank you all.leatherbird.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
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- 878
Leatherbird,
Did you purchase the kit with the 3000 grit polishing tapes? If so, Ben Dale the Owner of Edge Pro feels that polishing the very final edge is how you get the knife to its maximum. He suggested to me to use the polishing tapes at a couple of degrees higher than the primary bevel which assures that you are polishing the edge, not just the bevel.
Don't get so absorbed with this thing that you don't feel your residence sliding into the Ocean. If Streisand goes first, let her go!
Did you purchase the kit with the 3000 grit polishing tapes? If so, Ben Dale the Owner of Edge Pro feels that polishing the very final edge is how you get the knife to its maximum. He suggested to me to use the polishing tapes at a couple of degrees higher than the primary bevel which assures that you are polishing the edge, not just the bevel.
Don't get so absorbed with this thing that you don't feel your residence sliding into the Ocean. If Streisand goes first, let her go!
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
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- 1,063
Glad you like your new purchase, always fun to have a new toy. If you are resetting the edge angle on a lot of knives, make sure to order extra course stones, they remove metal decently fast (for a manual method) but being soft are quick to wear, keep them lapped after use actually seems to extend their life, which at first I found counter-intuitive.
For some tools like machetes, lawn mower blades, some kitchen knives, spatulas, shovels, etc the belt sander saves just a ton of time.
It does remove a lot of metal in short order, so you would not want to use one for every day touch ups, but for setting the edge on a new knife or one that has been chipped or otherwise been significantly damaged the belt sander is my first choice. It is easy and saves a ton of time. As well, I use my belt sander to sharpen hard to sharpen stainless knives, those that form bendy burrs on stones seem to get crisp edges on the belt sander.
They are cheap, easy to use, save a ton of time but take some care in use. While I would not consider it a replacement for the rest of your sharpening gear, I think it makes an excellent addition to your sharpening arsenal, giving you more options.
I really like my belt sander for taking metal off fast, then finish with a sharpmaker, strops or an edge-pro.
For some tools like machetes, lawn mower blades, some kitchen knives, spatulas, shovels, etc the belt sander saves just a ton of time.
It does remove a lot of metal in short order, so you would not want to use one for every day touch ups, but for setting the edge on a new knife or one that has been chipped or otherwise been significantly damaged the belt sander is my first choice. It is easy and saves a ton of time. As well, I use my belt sander to sharpen hard to sharpen stainless knives, those that form bendy burrs on stones seem to get crisp edges on the belt sander.
They are cheap, easy to use, save a ton of time but take some care in use. While I would not consider it a replacement for the rest of your sharpening gear, I think it makes an excellent addition to your sharpening arsenal, giving you more options.
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Tim8557,yeah!I did get the 3000 grit polishing tape,haven't used yet,maybe today.They're already supersharp,but I'm pretty sure that my definition of supersharp will change. Knifetester,belt sander might be in my future,should I look at the low RPM versions?I'm assuming lower RPM's mean less heat so less of a chance of ruining blade's temper.Thanks guys.leatherbird.
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- Mar 7, 2005
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- 1,063
Get the lowest RPM you can (or better yet a variable speed if you got the $$, I don't), they remove metal a little slower, which gives you more control and more margin of error, though still slim. It will still be plenty fast, especially with fresh belts. Just dip in water between passes and the temper will be fine.
On big blades, work in sections, then smooth out with long fluid passes.
On big blades, work in sections, then smooth out with long fluid passes.
I just wanted to throw in my two cents on belt sanders. . . a little while back I came across mention of a 1"x30" belt sander for $30 (from Harbor Freight, in fact;-), on knife forums, and as I had a knife that I wanted to do some serious reprofiling on, I figured I'd give it a shot (I've got a bench grinder, but the motor died on it a while back, and since I hadn't used a belt sander for sharpening before. . .) So I went out and picked up the sander, snagged a couple of belts of various grits, and went to work.
Needless to say, I was really impressed with how it turned out. The knife came out with a beautiful edge. So I snagged a couple of knives I'd been meaning to sharpen anyway, and gave them a spin. Even though I'd never really used a belt sander before, they came out much better than I expected.
In the past couple of months since I got the sander, I've found myself going to it more and more for sharpening. For reprofiling or really roughed edges, it does a wonderful job (and the ability to put a really nice convex edge on a blade without a ton of work is just awesome), and using a fine grit belt or a charged leather belt lets me put the finishing touch on a knife in no time.
About the only other sharpener/system I use anymore is my Razor Edge Systems guide and a slim 2"x8"x1/2" combination stone that I use as my field sharpener (well, technically I don't usually carry it in my pocket, but it stays at the nearest "base camp" when I'm camping or "out" working).
Needless to say, I was really impressed with how it turned out. The knife came out with a beautiful edge. So I snagged a couple of knives I'd been meaning to sharpen anyway, and gave them a spin. Even though I'd never really used a belt sander before, they came out much better than I expected.
In the past couple of months since I got the sander, I've found myself going to it more and more for sharpening. For reprofiling or really roughed edges, it does a wonderful job (and the ability to put a really nice convex edge on a blade without a ton of work is just awesome), and using a fine grit belt or a charged leather belt lets me put the finishing touch on a knife in no time.
About the only other sharpener/system I use anymore is my Razor Edge Systems guide and a slim 2"x8"x1/2" combination stone that I use as my field sharpener (well, technically I don't usually carry it in my pocket, but it stays at the nearest "base camp" when I'm camping or "out" working).
I find them to be amazingly effective. My belt sander has become my prefered sharpening tool.WadeF said:
As for heat, it can generate some heat, but I haven't found it to be a problem. First of all, you have to be a lot more careful of heat if you are doing serious reprofiling or grinding of your blade. When you're sharpening, you're usually only trying to remove a very small amount of steel, so you aren't going to be holding the blade in the same spot on the belt for any extended period of time.
Also, if you use a thinner belt (I personally like 1" or 2"), you have a smaller part of the blade in contact with the belt at any given time, helping to reduce the amount of heat generated. And it also has the advantage that sharpening recurve blades becomes fairly trivial.
Lastly, it's very easy to keep your fingers placed such that they will detect blade heating. As soon as it starts to feel a little bit warm, lift the blade from the belt, and touch the edge. If it's uncomfortably hot to the touch, then either reduce pressure, move the blade faster, dip it in water, etc.
When I first got a belt sander, I took an old piece of junk knife and played with it on the belt sander to help get a feel for what I was doing. One of the things I did was to try various amounts of pressure and lengths of time in order to get a feel for how hot the knife would get, and how fast. I eventually intentionally burned the steel to see just how careful I had to be about it. That was a couple of months ago, and I haven't yet had any issues with temper on blades I've since sharpened on the belt sander.
You sharpen on a belt sander with the edge trailing, as you would when using a strop. In fact, you can even get a leather belt for a belt sander, which you can then charge with your favorite stropping compound (I use .5 micron chromium oxide myself), which puts a beautiful finishing touch on an edge. Of course, you can use an uncharged belt too.WadeF said: