Harbor Freight 1x30 better than expected

J

JWRobinson

Joined
Mar 31, 2012
Messages
327
After reading all the posts about belt sanding I purchased a 1x30 and just got around using the nice selection of belts I purchased from True Grit. I was pleasantly surprised how easy is is to put a mirror polished, hair splitting edge on almost everything. I've been using 80, 220,400,600,800, 1200, 3k and a finer film belt before the power strop. It works great but I think the number of belts is way overkill so which ones do I not need to go from reprofiling to a sharp as possible?

Thanks in advance
 
I loved my HF 1x30. For me and just for sharpening my own rule of thumb is double the next size grit. Example 30 grit to 60 to 120 to 320 to 600 you get the idea. truth is I mainly just use a 600 and then a leather belt with green compound on it. Btw I now have a 1x42 Viel and was very impressed with how smooth it runs compared to the HF. Both are worth there price and then some.
 
I was thinking along those lines. Maybe 600, 1200, 3k. I ran a few blades starting at 800 that were already shaving sharp from hand sharpening and they also turned out great. Hmmm....if I'm going to double the number I wonder how many belts they make between 3000 and infinity;)
 
Glad to see the positive review on it...picked one up today and not sure if I'm going to keep it or not. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend a little extra on the Craftsman 2x42. I'm about to start my first knife as soon as the steel arrives, so I'm not too sure what I'm doing yet, but very excited to get started!
 
They'r really something, aren't they? No way a stupid $30 belt sander should be able to get a knife that sharp! :D

I used (before I went to the Trizact belts) a 120, 220, 400, Black, white progression. If I was going for a finer edge, I'd use a 15u and a 9u belt after the 400 grit, and before the black on leather. Now I use 3M "Trizact" belts from a fellow named Doug Rising. They work tremendously well, and out-last the grit belts by an absurd margin. They're also proportionally more expensive, so work the grit belt until you get the feel of it, THEN look at upgrading. :)
 
Ya it's great for its price. Other than sharpening I profiled 9 blades on mine and it's still running :)
 
I played around with mine with a few cheap belts (and a lot of beater knives) till I got the hang of it and my good belts arrived. Now, and with the addition of the Trizact belts I'm very competent with it. So much so I even did my ZT 0560 with it last night. In reality, I could have done just as good or even a little better by hand but start to finish 15 minutes tops. No damage to the studs or anything else and a beautiful mirror polished convex edge. It would be EASY to damage a knife by going to far and rounding the tip or hitting the ricasso so you need to pay close attention and use a steady hand.
 
Code6Charli said:
Glad to see the positive review on it...picked one up today and not sure if I'm going to keep it or not. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend a little extra on the Craftsman 2x42. I'm about to start my first knife as soon as the steel arrives, so I'm not too sure what I'm doing yet, but very excited to get started!
Click to expand...

For sharpening it works great. However, spend the extra money on a 2x42 C-man grinder. It really is worth it. You can mod it for knifemaking much easier.
 
great for sharpening i convex all my knives there but for making knives its a pain. .it can be done ive done a couple knives but it does take a while just need patience. . what i can say is i push it pretty hard and im supprised its still running lol.
 
Well, neither of them is really good for MAKING knives, the Craftsman only has a third-horse motor as I recall... That's very, VERY low for a 36-grit belt or so for taking that steel off without heating something absurd. Can definitely be done, just far from optimal.

I'm looking into a KMG fairly hard right now, when I get it I'll definitely be keeping my Kalamazoo for sharpening, and the big one for stock removal.
 
i like mine, but no so much for folders or fixed blade, more so for machetes and axes, etc. works wonders for time savings compared to hand filing chips out. for knives i still like my sharpmaker with congress tool stones and all the spyderco stones as well, best.
 
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