Posted this on another forum, but figured I would post here also.
Had my belt sander for a few weeks now, and have been practicing on a few lesser blades. Worked my way up to my Busse's and now today, had a wild hair up my a@#, and put my EDC XM on the sander for a new convex edge. Was rather nerve racking until I got started, did not want to mess up my XM.
Now the XM had a rather decent edge on it, but since I had gotten this belt sander and seen first hand what kind of edge I was getting on my other knives, I couldn't hold out any longer. One of the toughest folders made, needed the toughest edge, so I made my mind up and went for it.
Started with a 220 grit belt, then went to a 600 grit belt, then finished the edge off with a leather belt loaded with white polishing compound. Took me about 15 minutes total, and that was taking my sweet time to make sure I wasn't to do anything to screw up this knife.
This thing is a light saber now, and just barely touching the edge makes me say, "oh sh#$" . I am very happy with the results, and relieved that all went well. IMO, convex edges are the way to go and I now have confidence that I can do my exspensive knives on the belt sander. Tried to take a few pics to capture the edge somewhat, however my picture taking, especially close-ups, leave alot to be desired. Here ya go, this convex edge makes the XM even sweeter (if that is even possible ).
Belt sander with the leather belt installed. Been using a slotted paper wheel to finish, but wanted to try the leather, works great also.
My EDC convexed XM-18 3.5...
Had my belt sander for a few weeks now, and have been practicing on a few lesser blades. Worked my way up to my Busse's and now today, had a wild hair up my a@#, and put my EDC XM on the sander for a new convex edge. Was rather nerve racking until I got started, did not want to mess up my XM.
Now the XM had a rather decent edge on it, but since I had gotten this belt sander and seen first hand what kind of edge I was getting on my other knives, I couldn't hold out any longer. One of the toughest folders made, needed the toughest edge, so I made my mind up and went for it.
Started with a 220 grit belt, then went to a 600 grit belt, then finished the edge off with a leather belt loaded with white polishing compound. Took me about 15 minutes total, and that was taking my sweet time to make sure I wasn't to do anything to screw up this knife.
This thing is a light saber now, and just barely touching the edge makes me say, "oh sh#$" . I am very happy with the results, and relieved that all went well. IMO, convex edges are the way to go and I now have confidence that I can do my exspensive knives on the belt sander. Tried to take a few pics to capture the edge somewhat, however my picture taking, especially close-ups, leave alot to be desired. Here ya go, this convex edge makes the XM even sweeter (if that is even possible ).
Belt sander with the leather belt installed. Been using a slotted paper wheel to finish, but wanted to try the leather, works great also.
My EDC convexed XM-18 3.5...
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