First time belt buyer???

P

Peppie

Joined
Sep 15, 2017
Messages
54
Newbee here buying belts. I want to keep it simple starting out.
I went to Combat and came up with this for my first order. Am I on the right track? Will I be able to grind a knife with the following.

Shreadeder Ceramic, 6 of each grit 36, 60, 80, 120
Aluminum Oxide, X-weight. 10 of each grit 150, 180, 220, 320, 400
Aluminum Oxide, J-flex 10 of each grit 400, 600, 800

What else am I missing??
 
I think you have it covered. Keep in mind, you will use many more 36 and 60 grit ceramic belts. I use this same selection but stopped ordering the 80 grit belts and instead ordered more of the 36 60 belts. The 120 ceramics last forever. I have some that have been in the shop for years. The same thing goes for the other finish belts. If you have done the rough grinding well the finish work does not eat up a lot of belts.
Happy grinding, Fred
 
I go through 220 grit belts like water. Going from 120 to a clean 220 seems to be the biggest hump for me. Otherwise I agree with Fred. 80 grit isn't terribly useful, going from 60 to 120 is quick and painless.
 
Don Hanson III said:
I'd drop the 80, 180, 600 & 800. Hand sand after 400.

This progression works best for me; 36, 60, 120, 220 & 400

I'd also be ordering from Pop's knife supply.
Click to expand...

Similar for me. I usually use a 50, then go 120/220/400 hand sand. You won't end up needing all those intermediate grits. 120/150/180 are too close together to be useful, for example. I use 50 and 120 ceramics, VSM when I'm broke, 3m967's when things are good, and X weight AO for the rest. Finish off with Rhynowet and you're good to go.
 
There are big players in the reply to your question. Everyone above has been invaluable to me on my 9 month journey. And the Hanson name is as close to royal family blood as it gets in the knife world. I am a newby so take that into account. Last night I finished the 2nd side of a santoku. The first side was hand finished up to 800. This (#2) side I finished with a 120 j wt base level. Then 100,65,45,30 gators. Then 600,1000 cork. This all took 35 minutes and I was stunned by how good it looked. The hand sanded side took me 6 hours and looked as good as I have done but the machine side looked better than I could have imagined. I could not have done this months ago. You need to know what your hands are doing. Tip the blade just a bit and you get a line that has you wondering if a rock got on the belt. Fred Rowe and his Bubble Jig trained my hands. But wow, I am in a new place. You need to get started. I am in the zone when I'm grinding.
 
you have grits covered. I would go to a distributor like Tru-Grit and order a couple different brand name belts in same grit and see which works the best for your work. I would also include some belts in zirconium like the Norton Bluefire to see if it works for you.
 
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