belt sanders fatal flaw?

[Fred.Rowe]

I purchased the Kalamazoo 1x42" and find this does a great job sharpening all of my knives. I use x-weight belts and have added a custom made SS platen to mine which is adjustable. I sharpen between the openings in the platen. The speed of getting a quality mirror edge is so much faster then stones. I still use water stones along with diamond stones from DMT. Most of my best edges are achieved using the belt grinder. Best of luck using what ever method you choose. This just works well for me. Have also been a machinist for over 40 years. Yea I'm old.

Good points there!

 

[winguy7]

Yeah I agree with you too bgentry, didn't mean to say it was a bad method or that you have have to do it a cetain way. Just that I didn't think the way he was doing it would have good results in the long run. He was making knives to be sold and probably never to be sharpened again. He just removed metal in one area until it was Sharp and moved to the next. Good enough I guess, just not optimal. Most people that I've seen always finish on their polishing stones with that one solid stroke though.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

I go to 15 Microns on the 2 x 72 and then polish on a buffing wheel with green chrome to remove the burr/wire.
Mirror polished con-vexed edges that cut and cut are my results. I hardly use stones anymore.

 

[Mammy]

I was a scissor sharpener before I was a knife sharpener, so I am partial to what we call a flat hone.

This is the one that I use, variable speed and reversible.
I rough sharpen with a 220 grit or 80 micron and follow that up with a 15 micron, move to a felt pad with rouge, followed by a felt pad to remove that stubborn rouge, followed by a few strops on the leather that has diamond spray on it.
Leaves you a mirrored edge that is sharp as heck.

The sharpener has removable metal plates which makes pad changes quick and easy, and they give you a firm backing for giving you consistent, repeatable edges time after time.
For drop points I use a cushioned pad with the 15 micron to take out any, what I call "prisming" from being on the flat plate.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

I was a scissor sharpener before I was a knife sharpener, so I am partial to what we call a flat hone.

This is the one that I use, variable speed and reversible.
I rough sharpen with a 220 grit or 80 micron and follow that up with a 15 micron, move to a felt pad with rouge, followed by a felt pad to remove that stubborn rouge, followed by a few strops on the leather that has diamond spray on it.
Leaves you a mirrored edge that is sharp as heck.

The sharpener has removable metal plates which makes pad changes quick and easy, and they give you a firm backing for giving you consistent, repeatable edges time after time.
For drop points I use a cushioned pad with the 15 micron to take out any, what I call "prisming" from being on the flat plate.

These are great machines to sharpen with. I have a friend, Jason Pintel who is with SunGold sharpening schools in California who turned me onto these machines. They market there own model machine. He got me using one to sharpen smaller blades and they do an amazing job.

 

[winguy7]

So many good idea's and machine's. Thank you all for sharing them, always good to see what's out there. It's funny I'm mostly browsing the gun forums and I count the number of times on one hand you see the actual manufacturer on one. While half the people on here are all making their own awesome knives. All the belt Sanders shown on this thread are of very nice quality, and I don't think any of them would have the same problems as harbor frieght ones. In the end I'm not really at a loose though because I already had mine for other reasons. Hopefully this helps someone who is thinking of buying one to be aware it may not suit their needs.