belt thickness problem

[emrhuskers]

Hi there everybody. I am having some problems when i grind the initial bevels on my blades i use a 36 grit belt, and it works very well but then comes my issues. After the initial belt i go to an 80 grit j-flex and these belts are significantly thinner than the 36 grit belts and my issue is that i cant get right up to the plunge line and this is causeing me a lot of extra work when it comes to hand sanding. Is there anything you guys could recomend i do to solve this? Thanks in advance!

-Evan

 

[jawilder]

stop using J-flex blets in low grits. I only use them in 220+ and usually only for handle work and rounding the spine on kitchen knives.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Run the tracking so the belt edge is just slightly off the platen by a tad.

 

[emrhuskers]

what would you define as low grit?

 

[AVigil]

You might not want to try to get your plunge defined so early on. If you overhang the belt 1/8" and then develop the plunge with 120 and 220 you might have better luck.

And then finish off the plunge with 400 and 600 you might not have to hand sand that plunge at all