Belt recommendations for thin kitchen knives

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WC53

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Dec 15, 2016
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looking for belt recommendations for stock removal on kitchen knives, .090-.110. I would like the option to run wet on higher grit. Was thinking 80, 120, 220 to get started. The amount of choices for different series of belts locked up my brain. Thank you in advance.

Tim
 
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60/120 in ceramic. 40-600 in AO. Good starting setup. You can play with the structured stuff later. If you are careful with them, they save a bit of money, but I often skip the trizacts and just run AO. The added flexibility is nice and structured won't work for handles.
 
joedhiggins said:
60/120 in ceramic. 40-600 in AO. Good starting setup. You can play with the structured stuff later. If you are careful with them, they save a bit of money, but I often skip the trizacts and just run AO. The added flexibility is nice and structured won't work for handles.
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I’m complete the opposite and I use mostly gator belts. It’s amazing the life you get out of them. Next batch I get will be rated for wet grinding.
 
Youd be surprised what a nice 220 grit finish can look like. I run 60, 120 ceramic. and 220, 400, 600, 800 AO the 600 and 800 are just for handles though. Just starting out and on a budget you could get away with 60, 220 and sand paper honestly
 
valknut said:
Youd be surprised what a nice 220 grit finish can look like. I run 60, 120 ceramic. and 220, 400, 600, 800 AO the 600 and 800 are just for handles though. Just starting out and on a budget you could get away with 60, 220 and sand paper honestly
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Post HT grinding is gonna suck without the 120s unless you grind thin prior.

JT, the gators are good, and I don't recommend against them, but they are very niche (finish grinding steel only) and take abuse poorly. I generally only use them when I am doing something big. I almost always use AOs on plunge lines as well.
 
Not really, I would go up to 220 pre ht then come back to it post ht. 120s are very nice but just starting I dont think they're that neccessary.
 
Thanks guys. Been working with my nephew on starting knife making. Got all the grinder parts cut out this week and he took them home to weld/thread. 2hp 3ph motor. Will order belts and vfd this week for him. Spent way to much time playing with grinder setups I didn’t like. I would have been miles ahead to have taken the offered plans and had them waterjetted but I was trying to use steel I had on hand. Penny thrifty pound foolish or something, Live and learn. Big lightening storm hit part of my shop eletronics as I didn’t throw all the breakers. Got my old cheap tig and my vfd to my mill. At least it was all older used stuff! Used a jigsaw and metal cutting circular saw, man some of these new blades are awesome. I doubt I will replace the plasma.

Thanks again for the help on this journey.
 
For thin stock you can often skip the 60 belt and go straight to 120. If ordering a starter set of belts, I would get 60 and 120 in blue zirconia and 220 and 400 in AO. Some suppliers carry a 220 blue zirc belt, which is fine for the final finish on most kitchen blades. Another nice belt to have is a medium or fine grit Scotch-Brite belt for final cleanup prior to sharpening. Medium is maroon colored and fine is blue.
 
I must do things a lot different then everyone else. I use 50grit blaze belts to rough in the edge bevels. I then jump stright to the gator belts. It depends on how much clean up I need to do but if the finish from the blaze is bad then I jump to the A300 gator first. This batch of knives I just finished I went stright from 50gr blaze to A64 gator. I cut in the plunges with the A64 as well. After a few blades you have to dress the edge of the belt. I do this with a corse chunk of belt. I run it on the edge of the belt and grind away the little flappy belt material until I get the edge back to having abrasive. Like I said this number of gator is not water proof but I will be getting some that are. And yes these where all ground after heat treat and thy are AEBL @ 62RC.

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your not crazy i grind my kitchen knives 50 grit once and a whilt ill clean up with a 120 but its all about them gators in my shop to i have been turned on to the ceramic ones and they are great. as for handle work AO 50 and 220 then hand sand 320 and 600 (some woods get the 1500 treatment
JTknives said:
I must do things a lot different then everyone else. I use 50grit blaze belts to rough in the edge bevels. I then jump stright to the gator belts. It depends on how much clean up I need to do but if the finish from the blaze is bad then I jump to the A300 gator first. This batch of knives I just finished I went stright from 50gr blaze to A64 gator. I cut in the plunges with the A64 as well. After a few blades you have to dress the edge of the belt. I do this with a corse chunk of belt. I run it on the edge of the belt and grind away the little flappy belt material until I get the edge back to having abrasive. Like I said this number of gator is not water proof but I will be getting some that are. And yes these where all ground after heat treat and thy are AEBL @ 62RC.

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Glad I’m not crazy, well about the gators anyways. Thy are a tad picky and don’t like edges but once you figure them out thy are amazing. This last batch of gators I bought about 2+ years ago. And I bought 2 of each from 300 to 45 and thy are still going strong. Thy can and will glaze over but I just use a 2” wide fine bristle wire brush and quickly run it in the belt and good as new. There are a few other styles of these gator belts I’m thinking of trying and the ceramic ones are on the list.
 
Okay, guys. so what are the waterproof Gators and what are the ceramic ones? I just bought what I lays bought and don't worry about water as far as dipping goes. Haven't tried flooding. You still have to be rather careful with heating the edge with them. I have not sued the 300 micron. I settled on 165, 65 and 30,
 
I too love those gators! I rough with 50 grit blaze then 120 grit gator then start hand sanding with 220. I have tried many belts and higher grits but I hand sand all my blades and found there not necessary. I used to hand sand for hours on one blade. Once I swapped to a glass platen (and learned to grind better) and made sure I have gotten all the deep 50 grit scratches out with the 120 gator hand sanding goes surprisingly quick.
 
So what's the specific thing that you like better/what do they do better? Do they last longer, do you need less pressure? do they remove the prior grit scratches quicker? do they do have a better edge and do a better job establishing the plunge?
 
weo said:
So what's the specific thing that you like better/what do they do better? Do they last longer, do you need less pressure? do they remove the prior grit scratches quicker? do they do have a better edge and do a better job establishing the plunge?
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They don't seem to cut as fast as ao or blaze but they last and last. The finish they leave is great;and easy to see the previous grit scratches to make sure you get them out. they also don't have belt bump. They can be dressed back flat with a worn 50 grit belt. Did I mention they last forever?
 
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