I'm running at a fairly slow speed. Not sure exactly what the speed is but i guess i could time it. I like the slower speed because it seems to work better with S30V and Ti because they both "work harden" with the higher speeds. So, it seems i get better results with slow speed combined with high torque.
I'm sure the other part of the "bump" problem is caused by the fact i am also using a 2" diameter wheel. The smaller wheel forces the belt into a tighter curve which exaggerates the bump. What i'm doing to reduce the bump is to take packaging tape and lay it up against the edge of the splice tape and then also use a couple pieces of tape to feather it further. It does help sometimes but can be hit and miss and eventually starts to wear out and cause its own bumps.
Seems to me a guy shouldn't have to dick with such things! The companies making these belts should be able to make a belt with no bump at all (and i'm sure they can!). I can think of a few different ways. Yeah, the belts would end up costing more, but the way those ceramic belts last so long it would be well worth the buck for the bang.
The other thing is that the grit will also wear more where the splice tape causes the bump. So, every time that section of change in grit consistency rolls around it shows in the form of inconsistency in the grind pattern... which SUCKS when you're trying to get a nice smooth finish. It in effect also causes, simply put, more work than you should really have to do. Not to mention the fact that it also contributes to causing a person to slowly go "grind crazy" from the monotony of it all...hahahaha...
Those Norton Blaze belts look pretty cool. I was planning on trying those. And those Norax belts, too. The trick, though, is having the consistency in the evenness of the grind and nice clean edges where two different angles of grind come together. Depth of "scratches" is really important, too, because if the scratches aren't even (a very few are much deeper than the vast majority of the rest) it ends up taking much more work to get those few "extra scratches" out.
Ed, your description of those Norax belts sounds pretty good. Thicker belts does seem to translate into "smoother". I'll also check out those Klingspoor, and 3M. Some of the belts i have are "no name" except for the numbers printed inside. My ceramic are "Carborundum Abrasives - Medalist" and the other belts i believe are silicon carbide and are labeled "APABRASIVES". And the belt that really pissed me off enough to write all this just says "Silicon Carbide" and is "directional" (has arrows)...P400.
Am i showing signs of going Grind Crazy yet? Or have i already completely lost it?
