Beltsander?

P

Paulde

Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
66
Ok, I know i'm a little new to all this, and I know about the mousepad and sandpaper deal, which I've used on my HG55 and other blades and it works great, but I'd like to know about the beltsander.
 
Get one of these... they are about $100. You can get the belts from http://www.trugrit.com/.

Convex a knife in 2 minutes. It rocks.

IMG_1847.jpg
 
Thanks kdstrick, no magic, no voodoo and convexed edge in two minutes? Beats the hell out of mousepads and sandpaper. Is there any risk of overheating the blade, ruining temper/finish? If so, how do you avoid it?
 
A lot of people have recommended the $40 1x30 belt sander from harbor freight. I was skeptical of a $40 sander, but people seem to have good results with it.
 
if you can find a variable speed sander that will work better for convexing a knife or for doing any work on a knife since it wont heat the blade up so much. i have mine slowed down enough that i can watch the seam go by.
 
richard j said:
if you can find a variable speed sander that will work better for convexing a knife or for doing any work on a knife since it wont heat the blade up so much. i have mine slowed down enough that i can watch the seam go by.
Click to expand...

What sander would you suggest?
 
richard j said:
if you can find a variable speed sander that will work better for convexing a knife or for doing any work on a knife since it wont heat the blade up so much. i have mine slowed down enough that i can watch the seam go by.
Click to expand...

+1

I bought one of the $40 1x30 sanders and added a rheostat to slow it down. Makes things a lot easier.
 
Snakedoc, an chance of pics/ a quick tutorial on how you did that? It sounds like a cool idea:thumbup:
 
I picked it up at a hardware store. I had to cut the power cord on the sander and wired it in. All it really does is regulate how much power is getting to the motor.
 
Rheostats and speed controls are a complicated subject - many belt sanders have AC motors, and a rheostat, which just changes the voltage that's getting through to the motor, is at best going to work poorly, and at worst burn out your motor.

Now sometimes people will refer to an AC motor controller, which varies the input frequency, as a rheostat, even though it's technically not one. So, one of those may or may not be compatible with the motor on your sander.


Basically, it's a messy undertaking.


Edit: to further muddy the waters, there's also the difference between synchronous and universal AC motors, and it's not always very easy to tell which you've got.
 
Mustard Man is right, I wouldn't recomend this on a more expensive sander. I just figured for a $40 dollar sander it would get me by for what I need it to do.
 
Paulde said:
Thanks kdstrick, no magic, no voodoo and convexed edge in two minutes? Beats the hell out of mousepads and sandpaper. Is there any risk of overheating the blade, ruining temper/finish? If so, how do you avoid it?
Click to expand...

Yup! Easy, easy, easy... The main thing is to use pretty fine belts so that it doesn't remove too much metal. I step it down with 3 or maybe 4 different grits, using a leather belt from lee valley for the final step... it puts a mirror edge on it.

The key to not rounding off the tip is to not allow the tip to 'run' off the edge of the belt. Practice on old kitchen knives or machetes before hacking up the INFI.

I keep a cup of water next to the grinder and dip the blade in it after grinding the edge, and allow it to sit for a minute or so before continuing.

Also, wear goggles and a dust mask. ;)

The coolest thing about the grinder is that it sharpens the knife so fast that you will never feel guilty about beating the crap out of them, because you can so easily re-sharpen them (although the INFI will rarely need it).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top