Cork belts?

[Scaniaman]

Looks about what I get. I recently also put some compound (Menzerna 439T) on my 400 grit cork belt. Not sure about it though. It puts a shine on too coarse of a grit I think.

 

[HSC ///]

Well unfortunately the cork finish didn’t really help on a wear resistant steel. It’s sort of softened things up a little but otherwise was non effective.
I guess I knew it up front ...but was hoping for something

I basically have softened 280 grit belt finish.

 

[Scaniaman]

I find it softens up, and blends, a little yes. I mostly work with 14c28n and AEB-L in the 61-62 hrc range.
They also keep transitions crisper than Scotchbrites, but at high grinds on thin stock there is an annoying little mess still.

 

[FredyCro]

I have a non grit cork belt that I was about to try out. I ordered dialux orange paste which is also meant to prepolish stainless, but I am not encouraged by your results.

I do have some 400 and 600 grit belts that I havent used but no idea how these will do on wear resistant steels.

 

[Scaniaman]

I just did this paring blade on my 500 mm wheel, from 2 mm stock. A65 trizact then 400 grit cork with compound.

 

[john april]

Here’s a new Hermès RB515X Cork Silicon Carbide Polishing Belt 400

After an eleven minute break In. Does this look correct?


i do not think it looks correct. its still too rough. in the steve johnson subhilt video, he discusses the cork belts. his belts are more smooth than rough. they almost look like pavement. the corks are a differently made than grit belts , on a cork belt the abrasive is in the adhesive used to attach the cork onto the belt. on a grit belt the adhesive is just adhesive to attach the grits to the belt. the break in is very annoying to do

 

[john april]

here are some photos from the steve johnson video. the second photo shows a new belt compared to a broken in belt. he said the old one was over 2 years old, and he only replaces them when the edges get rough and uneven. in my shop the break in takes a lot longer than 10 minutes ! i have actually never had a belt that looks as flat as his do. i had an idea recently to make a piece of angle iron to fit on my surface grinder attachment to wear the face of the cork down but i have not tried it yet . i know you like to invent tools
A2E85A46-1EF4-4ECF-9DD2-CD242116EFF4 by john april, on Flickr

600B387B-C9D5-4832-8B8C-52BCDE1960A1 by john april, on Flickr