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Finest grit on the grinder?

G

GRapp

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2022
Messages
218
In the past, because I sucked at this I usually would only rough grind to 240 or so on the machine before finishing by hand. It made it harder for me to grind too much and screw up that way. I'm still not good, but better. So, I have started to get a better/finer finish on the grinder before hitting the brakes. How fine of a belt will you use before calling it good?
 
220 Mostly with a black marker to make sure its clean. Sometimes 400.
 
I go up to 400grit with nice ceramic belts from Red Label. This is mainly to get a good canvas for a stonewashed finish. I mostly hard grind high alloy steels so ceramic is necessary.

For a belt satin finish, 240 looks very nice, better than 400 grit.

The higher the grit, the quicker your belt dies and the easier it is to make mistakes.

Below is a 240 grit ceramic belt finish on 61RC 3V.

Just don't ask me to do any hand sanding 😅

1Csg0Ob.jpeg
 
the highest grit # for me is 1200 VSM Illumeron although I wouldn't say the bevels are necessarily finished all the way to that level, and most of my stuff doesn't ever see that belt. But I do like that finish when I go that far with it
 
220 grit then EDM stones and hand sanding.
 
220 on grinder then 220 on flat disk grinder then start 220 hand sanding.
 
Huntsman, I do like the look of your bevels ground one direction while the flats are perpendicular, or at least a different finish. I may have to try that. It would/could also be an answer to my thread from the other day, how to keep that sharp bevel line and not wash it out hand sanding. Of course, I have some stones in route for that too.

Seems the majority response is 220, so, I guess I might be something right. Thanks folks.
 
GRapp said:
Flat platen, variable.
Click to expand...
I go to a 600 grit belt finish.
I use double stick tape and fix a small strip of used finishing belt with white backing (I think it’s a cotton blend) smooth side out. This eliminates vibration and heat buildup. Turn the fpm down.

It’s not necessary for 120 grit but works great for 220-600. You can go finer too.

Hoss
 
800 grit cork plus green chrome, but more usually 600 cork. I have been known to hand finish with EDM stones at 220 or 400 along the blade and then switch back to belts.
What steel one is working makes a big difference, as does final desired finish. I have used O1, AEBL, RWL34 and 12C27. Hand sanded looks better than belt finish, and is easier for a user to touch up or maintain, but I find it hard to justify the extra work on stuff I am going to use myself.
 
DevinT said:
I go to a 600 grit belt finish.
I use double stick tape and fix a small strip of used finishing belt with white backing (I think it’s a cotton blend) smooth side out. This eliminates vibration and heat buildup. Turn the fpm down.

It’s not necessary for 120 grit but works great for 220-600. You can go finer too.

Hoss
Click to expand...
Hoss, to be clear, you are adhering this strip of belt to the flat platen as a backer, correct?
 
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