Belt grinder - Questions on belts.

[Heiheit]

Hey guys,

I'm picking up a kalamazoo 1sm soon and need a bit of help with the belts. So far the only place I've found with reasonable prices and a decent selection is supergrit.com; I'm going with:

silicon carbide belts in 220,320,400,600,and 800. These will be for sharpening except for the 220 which I plan to use for satin finishes.

an 80 grit ceramic belt for material removal (from the actual blade, not for sharpening)

1000 grit trizact belt, and 9 micron (1200 grit) poly belt; all for sharpening.

A 3m conditioning (scotchbrite) belt: I haven't decided if I want fine or medium (these will be for satin finishes)

And a leather honing belt from a different site.

So onto the questions,

Are these quality belts? I'm not sure if the SC belts are x weights - has anyone bought these from supergrit?

I'm going for mirror finish edges; I can get them already with my edge pro, at what grit will it be a mirror?

I have 1 micron diamond paste from DMT; will it work well with the leather belt?

Which conditioning belt provides the better satin finish? I don't want my actual blades to be mirrors, just the edges.

Thanks for the help.

 

[230grains]

You have a good selection there as well as a good sander, I have the same one.

The 1000 grt belts will not give you a mirror, you need a 1x42 leather belt with some compound. You can also use compound on an entirely worn grit belt (I used to use a 15 micron belt that was totally worn when I had a 1x30)

Satin and edges all done with 1x42. I use both medium and fine 3m belts for finishing after establishing my own grind lines.

The 3m belts are going to give you a good satin finish some prefer medium, others prefer fine.

 

[Heiheit]

How funny, I was actually looking over a lot of your posts and admiring your beautiful work earlier. I suppose you use green compound on your belt? I do have a bunch of stick compounds, but they're the inexpensive kind not handamerican stuff.

Fantastic job on those Busses brother.

 

[230grains]

Most of those edges were done with lee valley green compound, but then usually I switch to diamond spray and hand strop after very slowly and carefully. In the end it will easily grab free hanging hair to fillet it or whatever else people are doing these days to judge sharpness.

 

[AaronJAnderson]

What knife is that, stuck in the tree?

 

[changeofseasons]

I use supergrit stuff.

The conditioning belts work great. Just don't use them on a blade edge.

The SiC belts are good too, but the backing weight is not consistent between grits. My 320's are thinner than my 800's. They should all be waterproof cloth though. I don't use these for sharpening steel.

I like the feel of the poly backing on 3M micron belts for convexing. I use 80, 30, & 9. I'll use a 120 zirconia if I'm really hogging off steal. I finish with a surgi-sharp leather belt loaded w/ Hand American chromium oxide. I've tried diamond compounds and sprays, but they are overkill w/ power tools and can kill a good edge.

I use trizacts when grinding a v bevel. The soft cloth backing rides against the platen really well.

 

[Heiheit]

I use supergrit stuff.

The conditioning belts work great. Just don't use them on a blade edge.

The SiC belts are good too, but the backing weight is not consistent between grits. My 320's are thinner than my 800's. They should all be waterproof cloth though. I don't use these for sharpening steel.

I like the feel of the poly backing on 3M micron belts for convexing. I use 80, 30, & 9. I'll use a 120 zirconia if I'm really hogging off steal. I finish with a surgi-sharp leather belt loaded w/ Hand American chromium oxide. I've tried diamond compounds and sprays, but they are overkill w/ power tools and can kill a good edge.

I use trizacts when grinding a v bevel. The soft cloth backing rides against the platen really well.

Great, thank you very much.