Help put together first tru-grit order

[Brian.Evans]

My parents Christmas was yesterday, and I got a two wheel Craftsman 2x42 grinder! I'm excited! So, in addition to the ceramic platten and the manual tracking mods, I'm putting together my first tru-grit order. I have enough O1 for two bushcrafter 8" OAL blades and A2 for three small 5" OAL fixed EDCs. Also, I have eight razor blanks cut out already from A2.

That being said, here's what I have laid out so far;
36 and 50 zirconia, and 80, 120, 180, 240, 400, and 600 in 3m Gators. I have one of each in my cart right now, but how many of each should I get. I don't need to finish all of my blanks at once, but I'd like to get the small knives done and a couple of the razors. I guess I just need to know why ratio every uses belts at, i.e., twice a many 36/50 grit belts as 400, or what have you. I'm ready to start making sparks!

Ohhh, and my dad made me an anvil from railroad rails. It's pretty neat. Not as perfect as a store bought, but it will definitely work!

 

[blindhogg]

ALright, personally I would not get anything above 180 grit. The high grits wear out super fast and even faster if your on a non variable speed grinder.
I start with 50 grit then move to 120 and then hand sand.
So get twice as much 50 grit as 120 grit and get to making knives.
Save the high grits for when you are experienced, and spend the rest of the money on steel.
CW

 

[12345678910]

Here is a different perspective

I think 36 grit is pretty coarse, I only go as low as 50.
It is way too easy to go too deep with that coarse of a grit.

I started on a grinder running full speed.

In order to compensate for that I start bevelling the blade grind directly with 400, 600 or 800 grit belts.
Using a fine belt and light touch, helped me in the same way variable speed does now.


The coarse grits are still useful on handle materials, but overall I use many more fine grits than coarse because of this style.

Ed Caffrey also mentioned skipping the middle grits and going from something like 60 to 400 grit.

Just one belt each is pretty low, I would go at least 2 each and more of the fine grits.

I hate paying shipping & try to make the orders large enough that shipping is a smaller factor.

You will develop your own style with some experience
I don't know any 2 makers that seem to use the same progression.

 

[MJV]

Congrats on the grinder. I will agree that the 36 grit is a very coarse belt, sometimes by the time you get the deep scratches out you will end up thinner than what you wanted. I use 50 or 60 grit for roughing, then to a 120 grit and then to a 220. At times I might hit it with a 400 grit but mostly I will just go right to the hand sanding from the 220. A very sturdy hand sanding station and good grinding from the powered grinder helps to take a lot of the work out of hand sanding.

 

[raylaconico]

I only use two grits. Either 50 or 60 for grinding then 180 or 220 for finishing topped off with a fine scotchbrite belt. That's all you really need. Getting all those different grits is a waste IMO. Use Norton Blaze ceramic for grinding and 3m gators for finishing.

 

[J. Oeser]

I'm am right there with Ray. I do all my grinding with a 60 grit blaze then I jump to a 400 grit gator. Sometimes I will leave it at the 400 grit finish sometimes I'll hit it with the scotchbrite. I learned that all the different grits weren't necessary from Dave Lang. For me the more grits I went through the more imperfections popped up in my grinds if that makes sense.

 

[Salem Straub]

Getting both 36 and 50 grit is a bit pointless, they are both roughing belts. 50 is fine, and like said, a bit more forgiving of mistakes.

Ray is right there, such a wide range of grits is unnecessary, and a pain to stock. For roughing steel, a 50 grit Blaze or a 3M 967 Gold belt will last much longer than Zirconia. If you are spending the money to get Gators for finishing, you may as well spend the money for good roughing belts.

I use Blazes and 3M 967's for roughing, then go to Gator A65 and A45 to finish grind, sometimes finishing with A30.

I would consider The Gator A65 the workhorse of the lot, and I'd get by fine with just those after roughing, then hand sanding. I've been using the same Gator A65 for almost a year now, it's still going strong. I have others hanging behind it that I've hardly touched yet. They LAST and will resharpen nicely if wire brushed while running.

I save my expensive, nice belts for grinding metal. They clog up and bite the dust much quicker if grinding much handle material. So, I buy cheaper belts that do better on wood and synthetics.

I like AO 60 grits for roughing handles, or if Pop's has something like an AO/zirc combo belt for cheap, I'll pick several up for handles. $3 a belt is about what I shoot for. For finishing handles, blending contour on fittings, and getting into the occasional tight plunge cut, I get J-flex belts in 220 and 400 grit.

So, my long winded recommendation:
Roughing steel: Blaze 50, 3M 967 50 grit. Order more of these than your finishing belts.
Finishing steel: Gator A65, and if you feel flush order some A45 and A30. Get two or three of each.
Roughing handle material: Find a cheap 60 grit or so aluminum or even zirc belt, get a bunch, get a belt cleaning eraser. It helps.
Finishing handle material: Get J-flex belts. I like Klingspor LS 312 J-flexes, they cut well and are a little less flexible than the Hermes J-flexes I've tried. Buy them in 220 and 400. Get four or more of each. They don't cost a lot.

Finally, I like TruGrit, they are a good company with a great selection and decent prices, but you may also want to go check out Pop's knife supply. For what he has, his prices are usually the best. He carries Gators and 967, no Blazes. He's got good economy belts for handles, too. Best prices on Corby rivets as well.

ETA: I remembered, we're talking 2x48 so Pop's doesn't have much for that size. Check them out though, when you do get a bigger grinder.

 

[Brian.Evans]

I'm putting in my order tomorrow. I got the following:
4 Blaze 60 grit
2 240 Gators
2 400 Gators
1 600 Gator
5 80 grit PSA 6" AO discs for the disc side.

I figure this will give me a good sampling of different grits, and let me really develop my own grinding progression. I wasn't going to get a 600 belt, but it might be nice when I start on those razors.

Thanks everyone who comments and advised. There is still time if someone else has a compelling argument for or against my order, I'm not ordering until tomorrow.

 

[Remyrw]

I use the 2x42, my usual order goes 36grit zirc, 60 grit and 120 grit ceramic, A300, A160, A100, A65, A45, A30 gators. The gators are finish belts, not material removal belts, in my experience, I let the zirc get me close then refine with the 60 grit, then effectively finish with the 120. The gators are basically creating a finish surface not changing the lines. I might take two or three swipes on each side with each gator.
I also use the 120 and 400? grit 309J belts, they're the super thin and flexible backer ones and I use then to clean up plunges and sometimes handles.

I haven't used the blaze's, I didn't see them last time in 2x42 at tru-grit but I'll have to check them out. The 60 ceramics I use now are ok but the joint isn't great and I get a hop/chatter which is annoying.

Generally I'll order several each for the 36, 60 and 120 grits then just one or two of the rest. I use the 36 grits pretty heavily, but if you're new to grinding you probably want to be careful, they work very fast when new.

One last bit of advice, which is just passing on what I was told and then experienced for myself, use belts like they're free. If you try to get more life out of them than they really have you just make life harder. Worn out belts generate more heat, grind unevenly and generally don't do a good job. It might seem expensive to toss them when they still seem to work, but compared to having to pitch a nearly finished knife due to mistakes caused by worn belts it's cheap. That and the frustration factor. I usually save my most recently worn out 36 and 60 for one more knife to break edges before going to a fresh belt. Likewise the 309J 120 grit gets saved once the edges are worn out from doing plunges, it gets used for shaping handles on a few more knives.