Belt sander sharpening advice

[Snoopy]

I have always been a sharpening fanatic, but have been getting tired of always having to do it by hand. Also had issues getting the tip as perfect as I liked using benchstones or the spyderco 204. So I bought a Delta SA180 belt sander, cheap Ryobi bench grinder and a paper wheel set to put on the grinder. Only had it a day now, but wow am I ever enjoying it. Very proud that my first 10 knives sharpened came out with very nice and even bevels combined with very pointed tips. Now I need help in obtaining the best belts for the job and could use some advice.

So far, I have only two belts. The 80(ish) grit belt that came with it and a Norton Blue 220 grit belt. Both seem to take metal off at an astonishing rate and both end up extremely sharp after finishing with a couple of passes on the paper wheel loaded with white rouge. On that note, I am getting edges that our actually scary sharp beyond anything I have done by hand. I could always create a shaving edge, but these are something else. I do suspect that the edges put on with the 220 grit will last a little longer.

My question is, what do you think would be the best type and grit belt to use for sharpening like this? I like the idea of keeping one belt on the sander and then continuing to finish on the paper wheel. Is there really a best grit or does it just depend on how toothy you want the edge?

Really appreciate any tips! Thanks.

 

[Sando]

Depends on how toothy. I use norax belts up to 15 or 5 micron. But, I just can't leave anything but a mirror edge. It's not always the best edge, but I can't help myself.

However, you might not be able to find norax for that grinder. SC belts up to 600 grit should be easy to get.

Steve

PS You're only one step away from grinding your own blades. Sorry to bring bad news, but I've seen the symptoms before. You have the disease and don't know it yet.

 

[Snoopy]

Funny you should say that Sando, I am already hearing voices in my head. They are giving me ideas of doing some additional grinding on one of my knives. It is a beater Newt Livesay NRGS that was very poorly ground. It is a full flat grind that is IMO not ground enough, leaving a very thick edge. Seems like it would be easy enough to grind out further. Just not sure how to finish the transition point where the tang stops and the blade begins.

Last night I was just happy to have made it sharp. With the edge thick and the 1095 really hard, I never had the time or patience to reprofile the edge by hand. Took all of a minute to have it hair flinging sharp using the power tools. It was great.

 

[Gossman Knives]

I sharpen with a 320 grit aluminum oxide until there's a burr. I then strop until edge is polished. For a toothy edge, skip the strop part. This works for me.
Scott

 

[fetz]

i finish my edge with a 320 grit on my 4x36 grinder, i like having the 4 inch wide belt to finish the edge with, then i take to the stones and it done!