help

gincoza

gincoza

Joined
Jan 22, 2010
Messages
69
I finally got my belts for the belt sander, I got them from Lee Valley, I got the 180, 320, 500 and 1200 grit aluminum oxide belts, 1 by 30, and I got the leather strop belt and a bar of the green honing compound, I have a Chicago Machinery sander,,almost identical to the Harbor Freight sander,,I was kinda worried about the sander as it was given to me and had thought I might buy a little better quality sander,,but I was surprised the littls machine works great, I took the platen off and the angle thingy on the front of the sander,,it kept getting in my way, the belts came in micronsmmthat innediately lost me, lol,,I had to call Lee Valley to make sure I used them in the correct order,,now this is the first time I ordered belts,,the prder came in right on time, no delays, order correct, etc,,I was little disapointed that the customer service rep was not able to tell me anything about the order the belts were to be used in,,but he was able to help me figure out which belt was the rougher,,the 180 was easy but after that I found it hard to tell,,now nmy question is,I took most of my wife,s kitchen knives and a large hunting knife to the shop to begin my new adventure,the first one was a large thick stainless kitchen knife, I started with the 180 grit and made a few passesuntil I got a burr on the oppiste adge then made a few passes on the other side, the blade felt better alreay, then I took the knife through the rest of the belts and the leather strop as well,,It is much sharper than than it has ever been,,but I was dissapointed in the edge,,I thought it should have been much sharper,,I have read all I can find about using the belts,,I thought I was doing things right but it is clear I am doing something wrong,,do you sharpen till you get a burr with each belt as you go down in grit?,,or just on the first belt?,,I am trying to keep a constant edge on the blades and do not think that is the problem,,help an old guy out if you will thanks
Rick
 
The lower the micron the finer the grit, 1200 grit is 9 microns and 0.5 micron chromium oxide it about 50,000 grit. If you are not creating a new scratch pattern with your grit progression then that would be something to work on first.
 
Before you use a new belt, run it on a smooth piece of steel to knock of the new high grits that may scratch up a smooth edge.
Just press something like a piston wrist pin or another roundish smooth object against the belt for a few seconds.

Don't leave the leather belt on the machine when you are finished as it will stretch over time.

If the belts don't have direction marks, make your own so you can run the same direction each time.
Larry
 
good advise, I finally got the belts worked out and the do a fairly good job,,I think I just need more experience to get my knives sharper,,thanks again everyone,,keep the tips coming,,
 
Unless the knife is really dull you might try skipping the really coarse belt. A coarse belt moving fast will eat up a lot of steel. Use a finer grit belt and work up a burr. It doesn't have to be big and can be so small you can barely feel it. Sometimes using light reflecting off the edge is the easiest way to see the burr. Try to hold the same angle each time you make a pass and since you removed the platen try to use the same pressure. Changing the angle and how much pressure you use will vary where the belt is working on the edge. I don't have a ton of experience with a belt sander but you might want to try putting the platen back on and seeing if you might get better results.

Also, are you using some kind of compound on your leather belt? I know on a hand held strop the type of compound makes a huge difference.
 
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