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Norax Belts

R

ricklee4570

Joined
Aug 12, 2010
Messages
647
Anyone here that uses belt sanders for sharpening ever use the Norax belts? In particular the Norax 16x and the 5x? I am thinking these would be capable of putting the final touches on the edge to a mirror finish.
 
I've wanted to give them a try for a while, but I haven't found a good source for 1x42s for my Kalamazoo.
 
A selection of Norax belts come with the Work Sharp Ken Onion sharpener. These belts are only 3/4" by 12", but they should be very comparable I would think. I think they work very well. I've used the x65, x22, and x4 in the normal weight belts. The x4 makes a near mirror polish on most steels and always gives me a VERY sharp edge that shaves hair and clean slices phonebook paper.

I've got a set of the heavier weight Norax that they call "stiff precision belts". On the small machine the stiff belts make a big difference because it doesn't have a platten. So these let me do flatter grinding despite not having a platten. In Norax stiff I have x200, x100, x22 and x5. The x200 is a beast and HOGs off metal. It's about the same speed as a standard 80 grit belt, but leaves behind more like a 120 grit finish. Roughly. The x22 makes a nice working edge for softer steels that just don't hold a finer edge for very long. It's my go to belt for kitchen cutlery. The x5 produces (again) a near mirror polish (but not quite) and very sharp hair popping edges. I pretty much only use the stiff Norax belts now, though occasionally I need to use a 60 grit to fix really badly damaged blades.

Hopefully this gives you a place to start.

Brian.
 
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