Grinding Blade Steel Question

[mathnerdm]

Hey I ordered some 3V and 154CM steel and I was wondering if the 3v steel was going to burn through my belts while grinding. I plan on using 24 or 36 grits zirconia belts for just the shaping and then ceramic belts for the actual grind. But i was just wondering how many zirconia belts it would take to shape one 12" blade... And is 3V known for being really hard to sand compared to say 154CM. Thanks a lot!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

In the annealed state, 3V will grind fairly easily. Once hardened, it is really tough. Sand the blade pre-HT to a smooth and flat surface. You don't want to be trying to hand sand out deep scratches or high/low spots after HT.
CPM-154 work well and isn't very difficult to work when hardened.

You should not use up a good quality belt on only one 12" blade.
I personally don't like 24-36 grit belts, as they leave such deep gouges. I use 50/60 grit and 80 grit belts to profile and form the basic bevels ( Cubitron ,Blaze, BlueZirc, shaped abrasive, etc.). From there I go to a BlueZirc 120 grit , then 220 ceramic, then 400 and up SC.