Klingspor Belts !! vs... Blaze ??

Battle Creek Knives

Battle Creek Knives

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Feb 23, 2010
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Just got my order from pops supply, outstanding :thumbup:!!!!!

I switched from Blaze to Klingspor to give 'em a try.. so far.............................

I love them !!!! 36 grit seems to be really holding out, of course I just used it a little today to grind out some 1/4" 5160 and it seems to hold its grit better then the Blaze belts at almost half the cost :eek:

I will post an update once I burn through the rest of this knife hopefully by the end of the week..

Has anyone else had good experience with Klingspor?? I may have just found a new belt !!:D

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What type of Klingspor belt is that? I like Klingspor J-flex belts, don't think I've tried any of their roughing belts. Maybe some of their blue zircs, but I've not met a brand that makes them that impressed me.

I like Blaze belts, but to me they lose their initial sharpness quickly, then last as a so-so belt for a long time, then last a very long time as an old, dogged, grind-welds-and-rusty-stuff belt.

If I could find a belt that I like as much for roughing as I like Gator belts for finishing, I'd be pretty stoked.

It's odd though, I usually get several decent sized blades flat ground with a Blaze 36 before it loses much sharpness- are you getting that much out of them? If you've ground one blade with the Klingspor belt and are impressed with it compared to Blazes, I wonder if you're stripping the grain off your Blazes early somehow.

Half the price for a truly good roughing belt does sound pretty good...
 
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Salem Straub said:
What type of Klingspor belt is that?
It's odd though, I usually get several decent sized blades flat ground with a Blaze 36 before it loses much sharpness- are you getting that much out of them? If you've ground one blade with the Klingspor belt and are impressed with it compared to Blazes, I wonder if you're stripping the grain off your Blazes early somehow.

Half the price for a truly good roughing belt does sound pretty good...
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Yes I'm talking about the blue zirconia cs411, maybe it was just me but I burned up 2 36grit blazes pretty easy.. maybe everyone just talked them up so much I was expecting more out of them??:) I dunno, could have also been that I applied so much pressure causing them to prematurely wear??

I bought multiple step grits so we'll see, but so far its holding its grit really good, not much has come off... I too found the blaze belts to wear really fast at first, however they still cut just not like they did the first 5 mins.. :D

I've done 2 of these knives, blades are 11" ffg, my blaze did one complete knife but had lots of wear.. I ground this blade on both sides and the blue zirc doesn't seem to show as much wear.. my blaze belt profiled and roughed it though....

maybe I'm just wanting the cheap belt to excel as I can buy more, and more frequently.. :D

we'll see in the next couple days..
 
The Klingspors are alright in my opinion, but if you really want a belt to last for roughing jobs, you should really try out the 3M Cubitron Gold 967F belts. About the same as the Blaze, I think they hold up a fair amount better.

Rob, if you buy some and don't like 'em, I'll buy them from you for a 10 percent discount!!:p Just trying to help you get some of your investment back, buddy!
 
Rob, do you profile with older belts, and do you grind a 45ish starter bevel down to your edge line(s) with a dull belt before using a fresh belt to grind the master bevels? I'm pretty religious about keeping my sharp belts sharp as long as I can...

No offense intended if this stuff is already basic to you.
 
I haven't used the Klingspor belts, but quit using the Blaze. I can order 3 blaze belts of the same grit. When they come in they all have a slightly different shade of orange, and everyone one of them will cut differently. Last test I did 1 belt tapered 5 tangs, the next belt 1, the next belt 3.
I switched to the 3m 967. I profiled and tapered the tangs on 18 blades with 1 worn and 1 new belt. I ground the bevels with 1 new belt and 1 used belt on the 18 knives. All the exact same full size hunter blade.
 
I have used the 967F 3M belts since they came on the market. I don't find them teriffic but for me they do the best job of all. I start with a 60 grit and run a fairly slow belt. I am sort of worn down myself so I don't have the "pushing" power most have. I too real like the Gator belts. Frank
 
I use Klingspore for my belt source. They ship in one day and give a discount for volume. I find the blue Zirconium belts superb for roughing, and the yellow for finishing. I also keep some Cubitron belts around.

I have found that the structured abrasive belts ( Blaze, Cubitron, etc.) need to have the grit fractured every so often to expose new corners and stay sharp. Use an old carborundum grinding wheel, or a diamond dresser to refresh the belt.
 
I use Klingspor blue but I'm sure you have better results than I do with my 1x42. I should try that trick to redress them.
 
3M 967 in 50, 60 grit. Klingspor yellow J flex in 120, 220, 400. All the belts I need or want.

Pop's is the belt gettin place...
 
I find that the Klingspor yellows wear out fast and bump a lot. For me, the Gator belts have been a revelation. As for the Klingspor blue zirconia belts, my experience has been that they are a higher quality belt than the blue Nortons. That is another way of saying that they don't split at the splice and try to take your eye out. LOL I like the Blaze belts, but they are pricey and the 36 grit belts have not been readily available of late. I may have to try the 3M hoggers. My favorite Blaze belts may be the 120 grti. I can go from there straight to a 65 micron Gator on smaller blades and not have to struggle so much with EDM stoning hand sanding for hours.
 
I was using both last night, the Klingspor 36 and the Norton Blaze in 60 grit. For roughing I too have found the Klingspor to outlast the Blaze. However in the 60 grit range I have found the Blaze to be excellent and worth the extra $$ and thats before I heard of re fracturing the grit, thanks Stacy I shall give that a try. I have also found that the Blaze does keep chugging along and I always have an old worn out one around for those odd ball jobs. This same worn out Blaze I have found to be great at sanding leather joints. Great for the edges of sheaths etc. Rough enough to get er done quickly but smooth enough that the leather rubs smooth easily with some gum. I use a flat disc machine alot. I have found the Blaze in 60 grit PSA discs to be worth the extra $$ too. Only problem with em is they won't stick when its cold. I like to work outside when I can and get that pic of CA being all beaches and palm trees out of ya head. I'm at 4500 ft at the south edge of the Sierra Nevada. Sometimes I've had to gently warm the disc with a torch to get em to work and even then they go at playing frisbee if ya don't get it warm enough. Course that orange color makes em easy enough to find once it goes frisbeeing out around the rancho. If I could only get the dog to bring em back...
 
jdm61 said:
I like the Blaze belts, but they are pricey and the 36 grit belts have not been readily available of late.
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I was at Tru Grit yesterday and picked up some Blaze 36 grit. I am lucky they are local and I can go down and pick up and buy and try different belts. So far the Blaze and Gator are very impressive.
 
I get mine from Tru Grit too. Great service, good prices.. Just call em up and I have the belts either the next day or day after. JDM youv'e had different experiences with the 120 Blaze then I have. I tried em several different times (because I liked the 60 so much) and just didn't find em worth the extra $$ each time.
 
My thoughts on the Blaze Belts echo Salem's. I don't think they live up to the reputation they have around here.

I recently bought some 3M 967's from Pop's.... and I like them better.

There's no be-all/end-all belt.... And it's a lot easier for a fella like DH to use 6 or 7 belts on a knife he's selling for $2,500 than it is for JohnQ to do the same thing for a knife he might squeeze $125 out of. I'm somewhere in between there. ;) :)

I keep using my 9" disc more and more... at $0.45 per sheet of paper... speed and quality of finish... it's hard to beat. But I still do all my roughing with a 50 or 60X and initial finishing with 120X. After that, it changes all the time ;)
 
If you just like using a fresh belt as much as you can you can get 2 dozen belts from industrial abrasives for like 45 bucks, theyre aluminum oxide and don't last long but at less than $2 the 36 grit isnt too bad a deal, I wouldn't bother with the finer grits tho, I haven't had much luck with them even at that price
 
Salem Straub said:
Rob, do you profile with older belts, and do you grind a 45ish starter bevel down to your edge line(s) with a dull belt before using a fresh belt to grind the master bevels? I'm pretty religious about keeping my sharp belts sharp as long as I can...

No offense intended if this stuff is already basic to you.
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yes the knife above was profiled with an older 'used' Blaze belt, and I started my edge bevel and the full grind with the blue.. Next time I'll try to take a used 'dull' belt and do my starters also..

no offense taken, I'm still an apprentice so everything is a learning curve, and I'll take any tips, anytime, especially if it will help me save money:D

the J Flex belts I ordered are funky looking I really didn't expect them to have the waved edging like that, or at least it wasn't in the pic.. Looks like it would make for some nice contour..
 
I wonder Stacy if you might write a quick tutorial on refracturing the blaze grit.. I have quite a few in various states and it would be nice to get some better use out of them :)
 
NickWheeler said:
My thoughts on the Blaze Belts echo Salem's. I don't think they live up to the reputation they have around here.

I recently bought some 3M 967's from Pop's.... and I like them better.
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Most of the steels bladesmiths use (1084, W2, etc) don't have anywhere near the wear resistance that more complex or modern alloys have, which is why you're not seeing any benefit from Blaze belts. On high wear resistance steels they're an absolute necessity. I wish they were available in higher grits! My experiences with steels like CPM3v etc. showed that the belts weren't necessarily lasting longer on a time scale, however each belt was doing more work in a shorter period of time. Also, they need to be run fast in order to continually fracture the media and provide fresh, sharp edges.
 
I agree with Matthew concerning the Blaze belts when grinding 3V and D2. I do not like any of the belts that have a thump at the splice.
 
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