Fresh Belts - How Often?

D

Don Nguyen

Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
1,043
I started making knives a few months ago in the setting of my class at the community college. They supply most of the equipment there, including grinders and belts. However, new, fresh belts are rare. I think they get them every semester. All we have are worn, loaded up belts, which don't really work well at all.

It seems like when I use a fresh belt though, they seem to load up and wear down pretty fast - within the course of one single knife. I grind off the scale with an already worn belt. I use a coarse one when needed. Are you supposed to use a new belt so often? They don't get completely worn after one knife, but they load up some and start heating up the blade that much easier.

Thanks for your responses and experiences.



-Don Nguyen

p.s. They have AO belts from 32 to 220, and then some polishing belts (I thiiink 3 micron).
 
A worn belt is good for doing the first 45 degree edge bevels, and also in fine grits for polishing in some cases. A worn belt will make more heat and take longer to do the work.. but I don't think a fresh belt is imperative until after heat treat, when heat is a really bad thing. You can get rubber sticks to clean the belts with, they help if the belt is just loaded, and keep fresh belts fresh a bit longer. An old rubber shoe sole works too. This is in my limited experience, so please wait for other answers as well.
 
The cheap AO belts won't last long from my experience, there are much better belts on the market. If I were in your shoes I would order my own belts from true grit or Pops and use them. Sharp belts are safer, work faster and lower the frustration level of grinding. Bring them to class in a book bag and let the shop teacher know that you are buying your own belts so you don't get accused of something when everyone else is using worn out junk, burning their fingers and generally wasting their time.
 
I agree, belts are possibly my highest expense but they are well worth it.

Always grind a steep edge bevel in with an old belt before you start your main bevel with a newer belt and they will last longer.

I'll use "older" belts to grind my initial bevel but will only grind a few knives post heat treat with a new belt. I might use a few new belts for a huge chopper.

I am finding my ceramic belts last way longer at high speed, I now grind my initial pre-heat treat bevels in that way. I don't let my knives get very hot regardless.

I used to use my old ceramic belts for handles but now I use the green zirconia, I've probably roughed out 20 sets of G10 scales with one 40 grit belt and it still seems new. The higher grits wear way faster but still last a long time. I go through a few J-flex belts as well on the handles, they don't last too long but are well worth the expense.

For knives that are heat treated before grinding I'd plan on at least a new 60 grit ceramic belt for each knife. For finishing you may need one of each grit as well but that seems to depend on a lot of factors, I use gator belts for finishing and they seem to cut well for a while.
 
I like that Koan :)

Unless if I can convince them to get fresh belts super often, I will probably end up getting my own. It's been frustrating lately, because all I've been doing is post-HT grinding.

Any favorite brands/etc that you use?
 
The norton blaze are pretty amazing, they last a long time. You can also try to stash some belts for when a project gets to the final 30 -50 % of the bevel. That is where they are really nice. For finer work I like the norton trizak.
 
You can clean a clogged NON AO belt with a Wire brush followed by the rubber belt cleaner... Works great but you will go thru wire brushes faster than you expect.
 
Frank Niro said:
Worn out belts just destroy well done work. Frank
Click to expand...

So true!!

If you are going to buy your own belts, go for the gusto! Try some 60 grit 3m 967 Cubitrons for hogging steel, the 3M cubitron 977 120 grit for cleaning it up, then use a 100x Norax Ceramic structured abrasive for really cleaning it up, then go through the gator belts. A100, A65, A45, A30.

You don't have to use those exact belts in that exact order. It's just what works for me. Use it as a starting point and go from there.

Best of luck!
 
Thanks everyone.

I had the idea that I shouldn't spend so much for belts for some reason. But really, if I make a knife, I use a belt. Kind of like how I use sand paper. It's registered in my head now.
 
I use fresh belts for the main grind and for any work that requires accuracy including finishing.

Before retiring used belts; I use the older belts for roughing out profiles after using the bandsaw, for cleaning up scale after HT and for brute hog grinding.
 
The real answer to this is use them as much as you can afford them. When I stared I didn't have 100's to spend on belts so I didn't. Now I can invest a little more money into belts so I do.
 
JW Knives said:
The real answer to this is use them as much as you can afford them. When I stared I didn't have 100's to spend on belts so I didn't. Now I can invest a little more money into belts so I do.
Click to expand...

Nice way to put it. :thumbup:

Cause let's face it, they are not free.
 
I was talking to some guys last night in Ed Caffrey's chat room, and he mentioned he had a bunch of boxes in his shop.. someone asked what was in them and his reply "2000 2x72" belts" .. at roughly 8-12 bucks a belt.. damn.
 
If you really want to get scientific about it, and if you have access to a micrometer or Vernier caliper you could put on a fresh belt and measure your progress.

Like, with a fresh belt, it takes you one minute to remove .001 inch of thickness, or whatever.

And as the belt wears, it gets to the point where it takes you five minutes to remove the same .001 inch.

If you can live with that, fine, keep using the belt, but maybe blow it off with an airhose or otherwise clean it and see where that gets you.

But keep measuring your progress.

Eventually you will find yourself spending 10 or 20 minutes trying to remove .001 inch, and so on ... at some point in time -- and you decide when -- you will realize that the belt that you are using is costing you more money's worth of time than it will cost you to replace it.
 
Used belts can be cut up and used for hand finishing/shaping handles.
I don't bother using the grinder on handles anymore, they burn about 50% of materials (and then you have to hand sand to get rid of the burns)
I cut the profile with a powered fret saw and then shape with knives, chisels and a half round file. Take off the majority with cut up belts
and then final finish with Micromesh.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top