question on grinding belts

H

hayshaker

Joined
Nov 17, 2016
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23
i have a question regarding grinding belts for my 2x72 belt grinder
i quite new here and have not got the shop time in enough i guess.
so far i've been using plain aluminum oxide belts in 36, 40,60,80 gr,
for stock removal and it's taking forever it seems to grind a blade.
so are there belts that will accomplish this task better.
 
I would look into ceramic belts as they remove material the fastest. But you may be a little shy and need to lean into it a bit more. If you aren't generating enough heat for the blade to get too hot to touch you aren't using enough force when grinding. While it is true you should let the abrasive do most of the work it will require pressure from you to remove material. Do you have a water bucket for cooling?
 
thanks purpledc yes i do have water next to grinder. but what i just found out is a nunber of various type belts are very shy of water
and will fall apart when wet like gator belts ect,,,,
 
Use belts like they are free. Once they slow down, toss them.
I would hold onto two of them to break the corners of bar stock so you don't chip off the new grit on a belt, but once that is established, switch to a new belt.

Gators, Trizacts and a few others don't like water, they will shed their grit in one or two wet passes.
Ceramic belts will often run wet just fine.
Drop $50 on ceramic belts at 36 & 60 grit and just toss them when they slow...

Welcome aboard.
 
Get some 3M 984 cubitrons in 36, 80, and 120. I have aprox 1/2 hp DC motor and can rough the bevels in on 1084 in about 12 passes. They can handle water as well. If I had more hp I bet I could reduce the number of passes by half. I started with Norton blue blazes and the 3M are way worth the extra $$.
 
Rough work with 36 and/or 60 grit Cubitron II 984. Step to 120 grit Cubitron II 984. Then 220 grit Regalite 707 or Trizact A100. Then Trizact A65 or Norax A65. Then 400 grit cork belt or blue or grey scotchbrite.

I've tried Zirconium belts, I've tried VSM ceramics, I've tried Norton Blaze and Bluefire and nothing cuts as fast as long regardless of steel type than the Cubitron 984 II. I wish they made them to 400 grit.

They're cheapest anywhere I've found from Pop's knife but he only has 36, 60 and 80 grit. They're about .50 cents more from Tru-Grit and they have 120 grit.

VSM ceramics are better than any aluminum oxide or silicon carbide or zirconium belt I've used. They're half the price of Cubitron II 984s but I don't believe they last half as long. I'm using the rest of mine to beat up on profiling.
 
Dang pops only goes up to 80? I just got 36, 80 and 120 from them.a couple weeks back. Hmmm.
 
You sure they were 984s? I just looked and that's all thats in the dropdown.
 
Yeah, I just looked too and looked at the belts I got on the rack. 120 984's. I've only bought belts twice. Once from trugrit and once from pops. It's only showing up to 80 now.
 
The 3m cubitron belts will cut very fast with a pretty fast belt speed (I run them at about 4500 SFM) and last quite a long time but the only down side is the price. I have many of them but I also have a lot of Norton Blaze (orange) belts in 60 grit which I use when hollow grinding at a speed I estimate to be about 3500 SFM and they are very controllable and cut nicely. I dip my blade every couple passes. I also use the Regalite belts in 120 grit and then go to gator belts and finally cork 400. If doing high polish I use gators to number 6 and then use felt backed film belts in 1200 and then 2000 before hand finishing and buffing. I used to use only Norax belts but they do not last as long as gators and cost a bunch. The orange belts cam sometimes be purchased for a good price and a fresh Blaze belt will cut nicely every time in my opinion. Larry

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Larry when you go all the way up with gators do you jump any grits?
 
was just at supergrit yesterday talking about this very thing i use ceramic 50 grit now and then 120 grit for starting an edge sharpening 220 J flex for handle work. other then that most of my clean up work is done with gator belts (337DC type) i mostly use then dry but have no problem running them wet cept for odd build up on the flat platen makes for a bump that messes up the grind (clean and redo fixes)
other belts i keep on hand are 400 800 and 9 micron i use wet for sharpening and some scottbrite type belts and a 3 buffing belts loaded with blakc green and white compounds

edit to add i too treat them liek they are free an over heated blade of forced grind will wreck all work up to that point and depending on the steel and what you have done to the blade up to that point it can really hurt
 
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