belt-be-gone

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floatlikeariver

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Sep 6, 2006
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I am in the process of flat-grinding a number of blades in O-1and my 60 grit belts are completely shot halfway through grinding one side of one large blade. plenty of grit left on the belt, but closer inspection shows the sharp points are completely gone. What grits/brands/compounds would be reccomended? are different setups better for different steels? I tend to favor using O-1 because the blades have to be oil tempered individually rather than in batches, and I think this gives them more uniformity and focus on the individual blade. Also, it is the only tool steel I have found in 2" widths. Any input or info would be greatly appreciated.
 
floatlikeariver said:
I am in the process of flat-grinding a number of blades in O-1and my 60 grit belts are completely shot halfway through grinding one side of one large blade. plenty of grit left on the belt, but closer inspection shows the sharp points are completely gone. What grits/brands/compounds would be reccomended? are different setups better for different steels? I tend to favor using O-1 because the blades have to be oil tempered individually rather than in batches, and I think this gives them more uniformity and focus on the individual blade. Also, it is the only tool steel I have found in 2" widths. Any input or info would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

What type of belts are you using? If they're Aluminum Oxide, I'm not too suprised. If you're using ceramics, or Silicon Carbide or something, I'm interested in finding out what's up just for the sake of academics.

FWIW, I read someplace that running lower grit belts faster will help prolong the belt a little bit. I've just reprogrammed my VFD to allow higher speeds, so we'll see what happens. Problem with this of course is that it makes is that much easier to screw up really fast :)

-d
 
I'm not a pro, but I've played around a bit and work mostly in 01. I found cheap aluminum oxide belts just suck. For a good 50 or 60 grit rough grinding belt, I find the blue Klingspors are just OK. The 3M cubitron 977s just flat ROCK! Run em fast and run em hard, just keep your fingers away from the belt. Recently I've tried some of the orange Norton Blaze belts and feel their at least equal to if not slightly better than the Cubitrons. I find I can get several blades rough ground and profiled with one Cubitron or Blaze 50 grit belt.

If you really want a walk on the wild side, try a 36 grit Cubitron. Again, run them fast and get ready to remove some steel! 2X on keeping your fingers off the belt with the 36 grit monsters! They seem to last nearly forever for hogging.

When you get up into finer grits, again I've been pretty happy with Cubitrons or 3M Regalite ceramic belts, although lately I've tried some 3M Trizact Gator structured abrasive belts and have been really impressed with the finish quality I get from them.
 
I have been using a hermes aluminum oxides. hmmm.... thanks guys, I will give the cubitrons and trizacts a trynext time. anything else has got to work better than these AOs
 
ill put a second vote for the Blaze's...i switched to them from the norton hoggers and i seem to get a little more life out of them
 
Remember also not to present sharp 90 angle into the belt.
Grind smallish 45D or so bevels, with edge DOWN, before you
begin hogging in earnest.

This sharp angle will strip the abrasive right outta belt, before
it has any chance of grinding anything.

McMaster sells annealed 10xx steel in 18x48 strips, in a number of different
thicknesses, priced just right. For a typical knife, I don't see much difference between O1 and simple 10xx

Annealed O1 is plenty soft, so it is either you're doing something
wrong or the belts are of questionable quality.
 
I use cheap 3M 36 grit on 01, and can grind 4 to 5 blades per belt, but I cycle them. A new belt starts out grinding the edges of my leather sheaths only. When I need a new belt for the main bevel grinding, that belt that I have been using on leather is moved up for that job, and is not used for anything else. The worn belt becomes my profiler and GP belt, and the cycle continues. From leather to main grind, to profiler, to trash can, works well for me.
 
Grind a sharp angle to establish the centerline with an old belt first. As mentioned the initial 90 degree angle will strip the grit from a new belt.

Since ( I am assuming) you are not forging here is a tip that may help you save time and belts. That is to rough bevel the blade first with a 4.5 inch angle grinder. With a little practice on scrap material you will become a natural with this method. Just take it slow and easy at first.

Since I do a lot of hollow grinding I like to use a rounded edge on a worn disk to establish my shoulder on both sides before going to the grinder.
 
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