Belt sander and grinder Advise please

G

gustav

Joined
Sep 23, 2007
Messages
112
I am not located in US.

I am shopping for a belt sander but I am only able to get a 4" width belt that comes with a small round grinder by the side. I am interested to know if 4 inches wide belt is too big for knife sharpening?


What about bench grinders? Is a 5 inch diameter wheel grinder able to use a 6 inches buffing wheel or 8" paper wheel or is it advisable that i get a grinder thats larger in diameter?

whats the advisable hp and what to look out for when buying one?

thanks
 
My 4" wide bench sander works just fine for almost all my needs. Sharpening? On a belt sander? Are you a knife maker?

A 5" diameter is a little small, but will work. I think my bench grinder is 6 or 8" in diameter.

A 3/4 horse motor is about all I can manage on 120Volts, 60Hz A/C. I thought it was a good minimum size. Certainly nothing under half a horse.

Have a nice bench to bolt your power tools to, and located in an area where you don't mind that abrasive grit is thrown everywhere as you work. (ventilation!)

Try playing with a friend's grinder, look at the power rating, and decide if the horses available are sufficient for your purposes.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

attachment.php
 
being able to make a knife or two would be nice. :D thanks for the welcome, nice place here
 
Could you not order belts from the US?
Neither the 1X30 or 4X36 are optimal for knifemaking, but they beat using a file!
A 2X72 with contact wheel, as available from www.grizzlyindustrial.com is much better, but considerably more expensive.
 
I have the intention to do so. Had actually emailed habourfreight a while back to ask if the 1 x30 comes in 220 -240 v. No replies. Decided to get one locally instead. I see a lot of different belts are available for the 1x30 but not a lot can be found for the 4x36


I saw the 2x72. I wished i can afford that.
 
Whoa! First you were talking sharpening so I moved you to the sharpening forum, but now you're talking about making knives ... :)
attachment.php
 
Hi Gustav, I've got a 4x36" sander from HF that I started with. They are quite underpowered, in my opinion and the belt is very wide, so there's more surface area to grab the metal and stop the motor. There are some other issues as well, such as needing to replace the platen and trying to find a slack area to grind on. If I knew everything I know now, I would have started with a good set of files. If I only knew a little more then, I would have at least gotten a narrower sander. I think files are actually faster than using my 4x36, some will disagree.

You could consider getting the 2x72" grinder plans from Tracy Mickley and building one for yourself. Even if you could afford a platen only version, it would be a huge step up from the HF models.
 
Gustav, where do you live ?
To judge from your name, you're here in Scandinavia. If that's right, you might want to order 4 x 36 belts from Hanghøi in Denmark. He has them in grits from 60 to 400.
AcridSaint is right though. I have one, and hardly ever use it for anything else than light wood sanding. It just doesn't have the power needed. I still use files to shape the edge - I don't have a 2 x 72 yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top