belt progression for sharpening

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willy m

Joined
Nov 27, 2007
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what size belts do you guys use to sharpen on your belt sanders? ive tried a few different grits and get pretty good results but was wondering what the general consensus is for starting and stopping?
 
Lately I have only been using 120, then to the paper buffing wheel and I have been achieving good results.
 
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I use a worn 120 grit and finish with sand paper and a hard felt strop/de burring pad.
 
well that depends,
if I want an edge that will slice rope and be able to skin things I use a worn 120 then leather+comp
If I want a high polish blade for woods use I go from (depending how much metal needs to be moved) 80-120-220-300-400-600-900-1200-1500-2000 then leather belt with green compound and finish by hand with .1 micron diamond paste
that gives me some insanely sharp polished edges
 
if i'm convexing an edge from a v edge on a small fixed blade i use a fairly new 400 grit to start and finish off with a worn 400 before going to the paper buffing wheel for the final finish. if its a large knife i'll use a 280 grit or coarser depending on the edge and how much has to be removed then go direct to the paper wheel. if its a folder blade i just use the worn 400 grit unless its real hard steel which i'll use the new 400 and the to the wheel. i save the finer belts i have to put a new finish on blades.
 
For a new edge that i'm convexing, 320,400,600,800,15 micron, worn 15 micron with green compound. Hand strop on green compound, hand strop on pink compound, hand strop on bare leather.

For maintaining, I usually start at the 15 micron and go from there. If it's really beat up, I start at 400.
 
there is no need to spend a bunch of money on belts finer than 400 to sharpen a knife if you have the right setup. a belt sander and just a paper buffing wheel is all you need. watch the vids posted at my website and you'll see what can be done with a belt sander and a paper wheel. http://knifetests.com/kII.html this is my chopper that i call k II cutting free hanging newspaper.
 
Currently I use a worn 180 grit belt, then the leather belt. I've used the finer belts from Lee Valley, but for the price, they don't seem to last long enough to make it worth the cost. The edges do look very good, and if I were to set up and try to make some money sharpening, I'd have one mirror polished laying on the table.
 
me2 said:
I've used the finer belts from Lee Valley, but for the price, they don't seem to last long enough to make it worth the cost.
Click to expand...

Yep, 400 grit works great for sharpening knives. Anything much above that grit doesn't last very long to justify buying.
 
i could never justify buying anything above 400 either for sharpening. if you buy 10 belts say at $5. each, you can get a set of paper wheels and get better results in less time. for example i can put a screaming sharp convex edge in a battle mistress in a lot less time than i would going through all the belts.
 
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