Recommendation? Questions for Trizact Gator Users

J. Keeton

J. Keeton

Joined
Nov 15, 2005
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1,201
I'm going to be grinding in some bevels / plunges this weekend and I've run out of J-Flex belts. I have a large assortment of trazact gators. I generally don't use these very much for bevels and plunges since I'm "comfortable" with the J-Flex Belts.

Do yall have any recommendations and tips for using Trazact gators on the plunges? And general advice with Trizact Gators?

I think I've read in the past that must run the gator belt right @ the edge of the platen (not hung over) and they flip the belt when doing the other side of the blade so that the plunges are even. This solid advise?

I was planning on going 220 X weight, A65 (220grit), A45 (360grit), then a surface conditioning belt for a nice satin machine finish.

Thanks!
JK
 
I pretty much run my Gators like I do my other belts. When they are brand new, you don't have to run them over the edge because the grit is high enough that you can get into the plunge. But once they're broken in a little I still run them over a little bit. It just depends on the blade for me. Kitchen knives I go over the edge a bit more than my EDCs.
 
I go right from 36 grit to a160. I do hang my belt over a little for a rounded plunge but you will have to break the edge a little on a new belt for it to work. I just hang it then take a piece of wood and grind the edge to break it down some.
 
Thanks to all for the advise. I need some serious practice with them!

Yall run them fast and with low pressure right?
 
I usually run them at 50% speed with light to medium pressure. I worry about heat build up with the higher grits even on these.
 
I dress mine with a strip of 50grit blaze belt glued to a wood backer. I also dress the edges a little bit on fresh belts. The sharp corner will bite into the plunge cut. So using the same dressing tool I break the corner into a slight radius. I don’t flip the belt when I switch to the other side but I do dress them to the same shape. As the belt edge wears away I will use the same dressing tool and sand away the edge of the cloth belt till I get back to a good think edge. Then radius that and get back to grinding. I go straight from a 50g roughing belt to a gator A300. I usually use the A300 to establish the plunge cuts. It’s amazing how fast those remove steel. The higher the grit on the gators the more picky thy become. I usually stop at A65 and hand sand from there.

A65 is actually the belt I use on my surface grinder and I have never had a complaint from a customer. It leaves a very nice finish that’s ready for hand sanding if that’s your cup of tea.

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I highly recommend the A300 it’s an amazing belt. Thy don’t do so well ran wet but thy do cut cool in the lower grits. I would consider them the longest lasting belts out there. And for what you pay it’s a really good value. Wish thy made a hogging belt lol
 
JTknives said:
I highly recommend the A300 it’s an amazing belt. Thy don’t do so well ran wet but thy do cut cool in the lower grits. I would consider them the longest lasting belts out there. And for what you pay it’s a really good value. Wish thy made a hogging belt lol
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I think you mentioned that you had heard of one that can be run wet. Is there such a thing?
 
Yes there is a wet version but non that I could find that we had access to. I don’t think it’s even made in our sizes
 
I agree with JT on value. They aren't cheap but they last long time. I go from 36 grit ceramic to a160 for clean up and setting plunges. Then I use all the belts down to A30 for hand sanding. If you do a good job getting all the scratches out from lower grits hand sanding is pretty fast.
 
they last so long i dont mind dressing them for fresh grit early and often i have 2 belts that are vastly different then our normal gators and they seem to run wet just fine (i forget what code is on the back of them) they need a tone of speed and force to work well and i hardly ever use them all of my work is jsut too light for them
 
Thy also work amazing on the surface grinder.
 
Tried out some gators today... Gave me some headaches for sure. I'm definitely doing something wrong here. Tried to clean them up with J-Flex, but this blade was beyond repair.

 
where is your center line mark?.

Mark your center line and regrind that one side back to center. Be sure to break the edge on the both sides of the belt.

The blade will be a wee bit less wide.
 
AVigil said:
where is your center line mark?.

Mark your center line and regrind that one side back to center. Be sure to break the edge on the both sides of the belt.

The blade will be a wee bit less wide.
Click to expand...

I ground my center line scribe mark off to take this picture. I probably need to break the edge. It was very square.
 
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