Initial grit for belt sander?

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kaizo

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Oct 17, 2014
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Hi everyone I'm making my first knife at the moment but I'm struggling to profile the edge using a belt grinder at 180 grit... Mainly because I go through them so quickly... I'm thinking of going down to a lower grit to improve speed and longevity of the belt but what grit would you recommend?

Thanks for your help everyone! :)
 
We had this discussion a while back, and it seemed that most makers used belts ranging from 36 to 80 grit for putting in the bevel. I usually use 60 AO for bevels.
 
I just did a piece of 3/16" O1 with a 60 grit ceramic. I think I might go down to a 36 next time.
 
Excellent thanks everyone I think 60 sounds like the sweet spot. I'll go and get those ordered now :)
 
What grinder do you have? If you have a 2x72" you can get some good life on the belts bit I would not profile with 180. I profile with 60g but have switched to 36g. It is much faster.
 
Hi mine is a 1 x 30'' baby one. :) I've just started so I was a bit tied down with budget... Thanks I'll probably join you with the 36g once I get better at profiling because at the moment being a little slow may be a blessing so that I can check the progress better. Thanks for your advice though :)
 
kaizo said:
Hi mine is a 1 x 30'' baby one. :) I've just started so I was a bit tied down with budget... Thanks I'll probably join you with the 36g once I get better at profiling because at the moment being a little slow may be a blessing so that I can check the progress better. Thanks for your advice though :)
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That's the problem man, 1 X 30 wears super fast. You can grind but it takes a lot of time and belts.
 
i like 50 grit on my KMG but i grind alot of thinner stock and nearly all of it being powdered stainless slloys
 
I rough with an endmill to remove the bulk, then 50 grit, 120 grit, 220 etc.

This is on a 2X72 and belt life isn't wonderful, I'd think belt life would be a problem on a small belt.
 
Thanks again guys :) yeah I think this is one of those you get what you paid for moment. I'll probably go up to a higher belt size as soon as I can to avoid this. I've ordered 5 60grit belts today so hopefully that will last me a bit.
 
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