Belt help requested...........

B

Buk

Joined
Aug 25, 2006
Messages
9
I'm a retired, 65-yr old tinkerer who 'Santa Claus' will be gifting one of Harbor Freight's $40 belt sanders and need some advice on belts. I will primarily be sharpening standard kitchen & outdoor knives. No expensive Japanese knives but I have one inexpensive Farberware Santoku. I don't need to 'tree-top' the hair on my arm nor cut hanging ropes. I've been using a Lansky but rarely use the ultra-fine, white stone.

I've looked at Trugrit's, Lee Valley's, Econabrasive's, Supergrit's, and Barbcat's websites at their 1 X 30 belts. Prices ,as I am sure quality, varies and several of the sites don't mention their belt backings. Looks like I may go with Trugrit but am confused about their belt varieties. I will be buying an assortment from 180 grit to 1200 or so. Trugrit's Klingspor belts are offered in CS308YX, LS309, CS310X, CS310XF, CS321X, , CS411X, and leather. I've read the descriptions on Klingspor's site but am still confused. Which belts do I need?
 
I'm not sure about you, but I prefer Micro-Mesh MX series belts due to my past experience using their abrasives for hand sanding. I have to say that there is a noticeable increase in how long their abrasives last compared to conventional sandpaper, and I had no trouble sanding even ZDP-189, a very hard steel with a high carbide volume. It might also be because I haven't extensively looked at other available conventional abrasive belts, but I found the prices to be quite reasonable at 52 cents per belt(at 1/2 inch by 12 inches).

If you have no need for super sharpness, any grit up to 320MX ought to do you fine.
 
You must have been a good boy this year! :D

I don't think it's very important what brand of belts you get. You usually get what you pay for, so I'm sure you will be satisfied with middle of the road belts. I doubt you need anything coarser than 320 or so. Coarser belts generally make for heavy burrs that are hard to remove. You could then go to 600, then 1200. The one you will really like will be the leather belt with some 1 micron Boron Carbide paste from HandAmerican. It will remove the burr and give you a beautifully polished edge that will be sharper than all get out.

I'm kind of a sharpening nut. As Noctis said, if you don't want to scare the Mrs., 320 grit will yield a serviceable edge.
 
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I have experience with the "sharpening belts" from Lee Valley and they work very well. My next order, I'm going to try some of Supergrit's options. :) I have 80 grit up through 1200 and two leather belts. All of my 120 and up are from Lee Valley.
 
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