help me buy a beginning belt sander set-up

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cckw

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May 24, 2008
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I want to sharpen knives for myself and friends, and want to do the belt sander method. I have rwad up on it and watched youtube videos. But haven't been pointed to the exact products and vendors.

I want to get by as cheap as possible, BUT without regret. so what sander and what belts?
 
I prefer Grizzly over Harbor Freight, but either would be fine. Belts from Lee Valley is the best souces I have found so far
 
I have the Harbor Freight and it works great for me don't forget a leather belt and some compound for the final finish.
 
Another vote for Harbor Freight and Lee Valley....cept I believe you can finish them off on a regular leather strop in the time it would take to change to a leather belt.....just a thought.
 
I've had my HF belt sander 1+ years and have used it a lot for many various projects. It's still going strong.
 
I buy belts at supergrit.com. Better selection and prices than Lee Valley. I also vote for the grizzly sander over the harbor freight, but both will work ok.
 
On the variety of belts; within what range?

or better yet what ones do you find yourself using?
 
HF 1x30
Pros: fast and effective

Cons: belt tracking, very limited adjustment for belt tension, gets loose, poor quality, way to fast.

Power tools are nice until you mess up a good knife.
 
I tend to use the more coarse grits like 80 and 120 to thin down really fat edge geometry knives with edges that are completely ruined.

I usually do not go above 220 grit honestly, but every once in a while I go through all the grits. I have 80, 120, 220, 320, 500, 1200 and leather all from Lee Valley. I would not buy the leather again if I had to do it over.

I prefer Grizzly because I have had to return Harbor Freight grinders due to the drive wheel coming loose and burning through the belt guard. I have not had any bad experiences with the Grizzly grinder, but they seem to be the exact same in construction. I guess it is just the quality control might be slightly better on the Grizzly contract.

Edit: I just checked out supergrit.com and I will be trying their ceramic belts when I order next. Thanks for the tip changesofseasons.
 
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cckw said:
I want to sharpen knives for myself and friends, and want to do the belt sander method. I have rwad up on it and watched youtube videos. But haven't been pointed to the exact products and vendors.

I want to get by as cheap as possible, BUT without regret. so what sander and what belts?
Click to expand...

Get a Kalamazoo 1SM. Not knocking the others but the kalamazoo has half the belt speed so you have a lot more margin for error. Those faster grinders can ruin a tip in a second if you're not careful. Plenty of guys use them with great success. But I have found my 1SM to be the best investment I ever made.
 
Good suggestion. Seems a bit pricy, but if cckw can swing it then it might be an excellent choice. Another thing for cckw to consider is that the finer the belt grit, the more heat is built up in the steel. So if you like a more polished edge then a slower belt speed would be a big plus.

If you would like to see a similar if not the same belt sander in action you could watch this video series that is on youtube.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v4ZxJ0rnrc&feature=channel
 
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The Grizzly or Kalamazoo is by far the better unit. No question at all of that . The 1X42 is also an order of magnitude superior to the 1X30. I'd never argue with that either. :thumbup:

BUT

The OP said he wanted to get by as economically as possible, and still get a unit that will do a good job.

IME, that's the 1X30 HF! :thumbup:
 
Ben Dover said:
The Grizzly or Kalamazoo is by far the better unit. No question at all of that . The 1X42 is also an order of magnitude superior to the 1X30. I'd never argue with that either. :thumbup:

BUT

The OP said he wanted to get by as economically as possible, and still get a unit that will do a good job.

IME, that's the 1X30 HF! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

No argument there. But I've spent probably 1,000 on sharpening stones and kits and gadgets in my life and the $210.00 for the Kalamazoo was better than any of them. My stance these days is do it one and do it right. Even if it is a little more expensive. I'd much rather take the hit for the Kaly now, then have gotten something more affordale early on and then decide to move up to the kaly. But everyone should use what works for them in any case.
 
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