Belt Sander Setup

It's a great machine and should give you countless years of service. I've had mine since 2012 and it's never given me a lick of trouble.

 

I have a Kalamazoo for over 10 years now and it is great for sharpening knives. It has come in handy for other chores as well. You will not be disappointed with this belt grinder.

 

Yeah I think you are going way overkill on belts... I do all my machine sharpening with a 120 (only if reprofile work is needed) then switch to 220. After that it hits the leather belt with compound and it will pop hairs off of your arm.

I don't think scotch Brite will remove burrs properly... At least, it doesn't in my experience. Scotch brite has alum oxide abrasives in it and will continue to keep the burr.

 

Scotchbrite belts are still handy for deburring edges on various steel objects. It's not the same kind of deburring you do with knives and edged tools, though--it's grinding the "sharp" edge of the object directly into the belt. They work great for that.

Aluminum oxide abrasive isn't really the issue. Most grinding belts use some form of aluminum oxide as the abrasive. Yes, even "ceramic" belts.

 

I use a 60 grit Blaze for heavier work. All of my sharpening is done with 120 Blaze or 120 mesh diamond belt, taken to some form of finish work after that, usually a microbevel and a couple of passes on a hard strop by way of quality control.

 

I agree, but what I was saying is that scotch Brite has al ox in the woven belt itself which doesn't contribute toward burr removal of knife edges. It will round the edge over when the burr is removed and NOT leave you with a shaving sharp edge. But yes, they are still handy for sure to deburr random parts and cleaning up blades.

 

Spurred by this thread I picked up a Multitool 2x48 adapter for my 8" grinder. Will report back whether its any good for general hogging and utility shaping/sharpening.

 

I mounted my Delta Rockwell 1X42 belt grinder on a tilt plate. It is set to 15* off vertical. When grinding, the knife edge is pointed at the center of the earth. When changing bevels, I walk around to the other side. The platen behind the belt is used for flat bevels. The free belt between the spring loaded tensioning pulley and the top of the platen is used for convex grinds.
I call this rig the "handle maker" and use it on flea market knives (with much dipping in water). I usually deburr the blade on the back side of the last (fine) cloth belt (edge trailing).
My stone support is set to the same angle and is used for more expensive knives. It uses quartz, Al2O3, SiC, CBN, bonded Diamond, DMT, tape platens, etc. One side is set to 15* off vertical, the other to 20* to match the angles on the Spyderco Sharpmaker. The rig is rotated 180* when switching bevels. The edge pointed at the center of the earth also applies to this device.

 

Is this like a contact wheel mounted on a grinder with an idler behind?

 

Horizontal armature that mounts to the safety cover screw holes - can be rotated to vertical. Idler/contact wheel in front, drive wheel mounts to the grinder arbor, comes with a 7" disk platen but IDK how useful I'll find that feature. I need something that can deal with bigger jobs and not cost an arm & leg, don't expect to be making knives or doing regrinds with it.

 

Router speed control on harbor freight 1x30 works as well as for their bench grinder. I know it can ruin the motor. But so far so good and I've sharpened loads of knives doing just that. Not looking to get into an argument about burning the motor. I know it isn't good for it. But for several years I've had zero issues. $150 gets you a bench grinder belt grinder and speed control. Your money your call

 

When using the WSKOE, how much does the blade heat up? I read a study done that showed the standard WS heated up the micro edge beyond the tempering temp therefore degrading edge retention when compared to the same knife sharpenened on a wet stone. I really want to get a WSKOE to reprofile all my knives 1000x easier than doing it manually, but I don't want to degrade my premium steel knives' edge retention. Would love to know if you've been able to keep heat to a minimum with low speed and waiting in between passes for any heat to dissipate. Thank you!!!

 

You can but you don't have to. Ive gauged performance from my freehand compared to belt and paper wheel sharpened and I don't see a difference in edge longevity. Think about this for a moment.... Many many commercial kitchens, meat cutters supermarkets and restaurants send their knives out. I doubt they are returned burned temper edges to do their work. But I'm not going to argue about it either.

 

@Bill3152 It clearly seems possible to power sharpen without damaging the steel, but in counterpoint it is fairly common for new knives to need several solid sharpenings before they hold an edge as well as expected; this has been attributed to heat damage near the edge.

 

I've heard that also. Personally I don't use belts and wheels much anymore. It's easy enough to put em on the stones and diamond plates. But I can say with my own experience and my own eyes that it can definitely be done without damage as I've done it. Not looking to argue. But the belts wheels and other systems work for sure.

 

Note that the edge apex can flash-heat MUCH faster than even the region right behind the edge due to how thin it is. It's technically possible to burn an edge and have the blade feel cool to the touch. The overall trick to not burning edges is to use a light touch, fast passes (don't stay in one spot!), and use fresh belts that are an appropriate grit for the stage of work you're performing.