cubitron vs blaze vs merit ceramics

timos- said:
I have used the Blaze 120 just recently. The cut well but I burned one out on hardened 20CV pretty quick. I suspect that with the wide variety of grinders out there that results will vary, widely.

Scott, I had bought about 10 of the 220 grit norton blue fire belts that are zirconia. If I recall, they became my go to belt for finishing around the tang and spine. They heat up too much finishing the bevels on a really thin blade after just a couple passes for me. I grind free hand with my fingers on the blade so I can feel the heat as it comes on.
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yeah, i think grinder speed makes a big difference in performance. I found that grits finer than 100 need to run at 600FPM or less and/or be wet if you want any life. I like the Norton bluefire 220 and the 3M 707E for finishing, i run them wet at 200 to 300 fpm.
scott
 
Don Hanson III said:
Normalized carbon here, very little stock removal after heat treating. No stainless. For me the 984s' last 3-5 times longer & cut much faster than the 967s'. If I every do any hardened stainless I will remember this.
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Good to know, thanks. As I prep more for JS testing and move away from stainless for a bit, I may have to pick up some 984's in my next order.
 
The 984's also worked well on hardened CPM 3V from my limited experience. Of course, that stuff doesn't seem grind a whole lot easier/cooler even it an annealed state. ;)
 
The Blaze belts haven't had the black gunk of doom issue for me this year, I think they listened and fixed the problem. I tried some of their blue fire belts and they still had the problem.

I tried the various 3M belts and went back to the Blaze. They stay flatter when wet for me and are very sharp. I'm not sure if they're the most cost effective or not, I never gave it much thought, I just buy the belts I like.

I grind hard steel, a lot of it wet.
 
That is good to hear because that black gunk can cause some problems.
Nathan the Machinist said:
The Blaze belts haven't had the black gunk of doom issue for me this year, I think they listened and fixed the problem. I tried some of their blue fire belts and they still had the problem.

I tried the various 3M belts and went back to the Blaze. They stay flatter when wet for me and are very sharp. I'm not sure if they're the most cost effective or not, I never gave it much thought, I just buy the belts I like.

I grind hard steel, a lot of it wet.
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jdm61 said:
To expand the conversation, which heavyweight waterproof ceramic belts have you guys used in the finer grits like 120-220-320? I have used the Blaze and one of the Cubitrons up to 120, but not any higher.
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i haven't see heavyweight belts in finer grits. that said, i have used 3M 707E in P220 and Deefos JS997 in 220. they are J weight belts and work well for finishing when used at low speed.
 
picked up the 80 grit cubitron 947s today. I found out this place also carries the VSM stuff. I might spring for a few 36 grit VSMs when its time to grind my batch of s35 blades. Not bad for 5$ a pop. Ill give a report on them tomorrow compared to an 80 grit blaze. I wish I had a 984 to compare to as well. Thanks again all for the input
 
I will leave this here

[video=youtube;zuHEb4Vdy8I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuHEb4Vdy8I[/video]

[video=youtube;npAL4tyexHM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npAL4tyexHM[/video]
 
I can't seem to get coarse grit belts other than Blaze to work for me at all. No idea why. 984's, 977's, 967's, VSM, Klingspor... Doesn't matter. Don't last for me at all, and create nothing but heat. I really don't get it. I use Blaze for everything below 120, and they cut superbly in any alloy I use, annealed or hardened.

If I could find another option, I'd gravitate to it without hesitation, but I can't. I guess this is just something that every maker needs to find out for themselves...
 
Matthew Gregory said:
I can't seem to get coarse grit belts other than Blaze to work for me at all. No idea why. 984's, 977's, 967's, VSM, Klingspor... Doesn't matter. Don't last for me at all, and create nothing but heat. I really don't get it. I use Blaze for everything below 120, and they cut superbly in any alloy I use, annealed or hardened.

If I could find another option, I'd gravitate to it without hesitation, but I can't. I guess this is just something that every maker needs to find out for themselves...
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Are you sure you are putting the grit on the outside? :)
 
Yes, but it still takes me hours to get all the crusty stuff off the outsides that they ship them in...
 
ok, so I have used the Blazitron 120 grit and everything is good. so i use Deerfos J997 or 3M 707E, both ceramic, to take me to P220. or Norton Bluefire is zirc and will take me to 220. Now what? I have good luck on my disc grinder with silicon carbide, wet at low speed and have some silicon carbide belts coming to test. are there any other options other than AO?
scott
 
Scott,

I have tried many belts from 220 up and hate them all.

What I do like is when I need to start using a 240 grit is I use a good Gator belt, them move to 400 cork (no compound) then 800 cork then 1000 cork from there you can take it to the buffer or hand sand finish.

Luckily my clients seem to like satin finish so I stop at a 400 grit cork belt with no compound
 
I just remembered that I got some promo 120 grit Deerfos belts and they are not bad. It seems that most abrasive companies make at least one good product even if they are cheaper. The red Hermes coarse AO belts that I used kinda sucked, but the grey fine grit belts were as good as the yellow Klingpors.
 
I use loads of VSM belts and sometimes finish with 3M 984's. After that I always go to gator belts then sometimes higher grit 3M trizact...
 
I have tried all of the Cubitron belts and I have tried a collection of everything else. I don't care about price anymore but just performance and I now keep a heavy supply of Norton Blaze 60 and 80 belts and also a bunch of VSM 100 grits which I sometimes use after grinding a bevel with an orange 60 grit to get the grind lines a little sharper. A new VSM belt will very quickly take most of the heavy grind lines out before going to a 120 and 220 Klingspor 312 J-flex belt to clean up the plunge lines. Then I like to use Gator 45 and cork 400 grit to smooth everything. I run Trizact belts up to 2000 grit if I want a high polish or I use a cork 400 and then a superfine Scotchbrite for a satin finish. Larry

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very confusing, at least 3M products, "Trizact" is available in ceramic, AO, and SiC. Is "Norax" norton's answer to trazact? seems both Norton and 3M make a "984".
I use Klingspor LS312J for hand sanding and with vibrating sanders, there is a Klingspor store nearby and you can buy "scrap" belt edges and off-cuts by the pound.
scott
 
I use Blaze for all heavy grinding. Seem to last the longest. VSM are very good for the price. I use them and 3M Gator AO and ceramic.
Scott
 
Don Hanson III said:
Weird Matt. 984s' last a lot longer and cut faster than Blaze belts for me?
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I know it!!! Just doesn't seem to make any sense, and there doesn't appear to be any consistency from one maker to the next.

One caveat I have, though, and this is something that perhaps I view a little differently, or maybe we're all saying the same thing but in different words - regardless, I'll clarify MY thoughts.

I don't care how 'long' a belt lasts. Seriously. What I want is how fast, and uniformly it can remove stock, without generating heat. I can get a belt to 'last' for knives and knives and knifes, if I have to, but the increased pressure, and the amount of time it takes to achieve the final dimensions, and the tremendous heat generated by a belt that should have been discarded - not to mention the increase in odds of screwing up a grind because I'm pushing too hard - all prove that, just like knives, it's best to use SHARP stuff. I want a belt to last, don't get me wrong. But, if a belt only goes for thirty seconds but yanks off everything I need it to in that span of time, and with less effort, heat, and pressure, I'm more than happy.

Some guys seem to make it work, anyway. I can't. The moment a belt stops cutting properly, it's gone. I'd rather drop another $10 belt on the problem and be done with it than risk screwing it up or overheating it for that little...
 
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