Quick survey: edge leading or edge trailing when grinding on beltsander?

BryFry

BryFry

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Just wondering which you guys preffer. When grinding your bevels on a beltsander do you do it edge of knife down (edge trailing) or edge up (edge leading) ??

My natural tendancy is to do it edge trailing, but I swear I've seen pics and vids of guys who know way more than I do, grinding edge leading into the rotation of the belt.

So, how do you guys do it, and is there a reason for your prefference?
 
Edge leading. This gives a better view of what you are doing. You can tell what angle is being ground a lot easier. The only time I do a trailing edge is when I am doing final sharpening or buffing. The sharp edge can grab on the softer material and get thrown.
 
A C Richards said:
Edge leading. This gives a better view of what you are doing. You can tell what angle is being ground a lot easier. The only time I do a trailing edge is when I am doing final sharpening or buffing. The sharp edge can grab on the softer material and get thrown.
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Thanks, that makes sense. I'll have to give it a try. :)

grizzled gizzard said:
Do you mean blade grinding, as in hollow grinding (edge leading on a 2x72), or sharpening on a 1x42 (edge trailing).
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I mean when using any belt sander/grinder to grind out the main bevels on a knife that you are making.
Not when sharpening. I would never go edge leading when sharpening on belt or paper, no matter what anyone said.


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Edge up for grinding. You wouldn't be able to see your scribe lines if you ground edge down.

Sharpening would be edge down for obvious reasons.
 
Same here, edge up for grinding, edge down for sharpening and stropping.
 
Down and Down. I forge the blades to shape including bevels so the grinder is only to clean it up not setting bevels.
 
Let me add that I grind the initial pass edge down, just to knock off the harsh corner on the barstock and prevent peeling the grit off the belt prematurely. But thereafter, yes I grind my bevels 90% or more, edge-up. It's easier to see your scribe lines and less likely to wander up over the spine.

I do some clean-up work edge-down, so I can watch the spine and not roll over it, while easing the plunge line up close to the spine, but that's more like a finishing step, not really setting the bevels. I can see where a hammer-jockey who has his bevels very close to perfect right off the anvil might do all their grinding edge-down.
 
Edge up for profile, however, I always have the 45 degree bevel on the edge so until I am down to the final thickness the edge does not touch the belt. Edge down for sharpen.
 
I am a edge up grinder as well. I can see my scribe lines and it just feels more natural. I tried sharpening a few times edge up with bad results, so I now sharpen edge down.
 
Todd Robbins said:
I'm a wierdo, I know, but I grind one side edge up and the other edge down, always going left to right.
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Are you by chance left-eye/right-hand dominant like me? I look like a moron at the grinder, standing more beside it than in front of it when doing bevels. I look even dumber reaching across the machine from the right side, to grind the reverse side bevel edge-up... but I've learned to make it work. No one but my shop-cat is watching me, anyway :p
 
Actually no, I'm right handed and right eye dominant. I just learned to grind on a poorly designed homemade grinder that had the motor in the way if you went right to left. By the time I got a decent grinder, it just seemed easier to stick with what I was already doing. Could be that I'm just too lazy to try to learn something new, though. You surely don't look any worse than me at the grinder, either! :-)
 
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