Reusing belts as higher grit?

C

cjweaver13

Joined
Jun 19, 2018
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I'm currently using a HF 1x30 belt grinder and their zirconia 40 and 80 belts for hogging and beveling. I've seen some videos where people put on a used belt acting as a higher grit ie: used 40 grit turns into say 80. Anybody see an real world truth to this as a way to stretch life and add some versatility? Or do they end up becoming polishing cloths and generate too much friction? Ok
 
The more you learn about knifemaking, the lifespan of your belts lowers proportionally :D

The other day, instead of throwing away about 50 ceramic belts I posted on my FB if someone starting would like them, it was a race to my shop...lol, nowadays I throw away belts that years ago I would use for at least 10 knives more...

Pablo
 
PEU said:
The more you learn about knifemaking, the lifespan of your belts lowers proportionally :D

The other day, instead of throwing away about 50 ceramic belts I posted on my FB if someone starting would like them, it was a race to my shop...lol, nowadays I throw away belts that years ago I would use for at least 10 knives more...

Pablo
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I guess I was hoping for miracles so thanks for the gentle let down ;)
 
I don't know if you've heard what I'm about to say but it is hands down the best advice I've ever been given on belts. Use them like they're free. I used to think people were crazy when they said that but now that it has penetrated my thick skull I know exactly why they say it.
When a belt stops cutting, toss it and get a new one, for all the reasons mentioned by the guys above.
 
Darrin Sanders said:
I don't know if you've heard what I'm about to say but it is hands down the best advice I've ever been given on belts. Use them like they're free. I used to think people were crazy when they said that but now that it has penetrated my thick skull I know exactly why they say it.
When a belt stops cutting, toss it and get a new one, for all the reasons mentioned by the guys above.
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I get that after trying to use every last bit of an angle grinder cut off wheel. Ends up getting hot spots and creates more hassle than it's worth. Like you said I have to keep driving it through my thick skull
 
When a belt no longer cuts great it gets moved from the right side of the shop to the left side.

Belts on the left side are used for grinding aluminum, bolts, rods angle iron stuff that does not require a perfect finish.

When they no longer grind that stuff it goes into the can.
 
I make small folding knives and do about half my bevel grinding after HT. I use a new 1x42 belt for a 2 blade knife and i think that is pushing it a little. After bevel grinding one knife i use it to profile the next. After that, it goes to the hook of misery. Once my belt hook of misery is full, it is used to roughly thin handle stock (to be finished later on a disk sander with new paper). When these belts get clogged i hit them with a piece of mild steel to clean them off a bit and keep going. They get abused fairly well before getting tossed. It is a system that works for me.
 
When I first started knifemaking someone who seemed to have a lot of experience told me that when a 60 grit belt got worn I could use it to shape knifehandles. WRONG! It will shape wood if you want to burn the wood.
Like others said worn belts need to be tossed. The only exception to this for me is 36 grit ceramic belts. When they loose their cut on tapered tangs and grinding bevels I use them to profile blades. They will profile a lot of blades before they finally wear out. Higher grits I toss out.
 
I'm just too frugal...I cut up the finer grit belts into squares for hand or orbital sanding. When they start to fade on the grinder I don't take them too far past that so there's still some life left with the sanding block. Is that wrong??
 
cjweaver13 said:
I get that after trying to use every last bit of an angle grinder cut off wheel. Ends up getting hot spots and creates more hassle than it's worth. Like you said I have to keep driving it through my thick skull
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And reason for that is speed ...... as the diameter of the disk decreases decrease m/s speed of disk .
 
jwccustom57 said:
I'm just too frugal...I cut up the finer grit belts into squares for hand or orbital sanding. When they start to fade on the grinder I don't take them too far past that so there's still some life left with the sanding block. Is that wrong??
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Only if it doesn’t work.;)
 
Mitchell Knives said:
The grit never changes.

The tops of the grit become worn, and the finish appears finer because the scratches are not as well defined.
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How would you explain this pictures taken from Klingspor site ? Ceramic is microcristaline grain ........???

ceramic ................

xWAepQw.jpg


zirconia.......................

C0Zrsr8.jpg


Aluminium oxide...........

nPpd8zE.jpg


Silicon carbide...............

8pre4nh.jpg
 
J. Doyle said:
Worn belts don't grind evenly. Too much friction, too much heat, not enough quality cutting......leads to mistakes and heartbreak.
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Ceramic belts don t get worn .As they break with use they change shape , at one point of belt life you have in one grain more tips/more surface in contact with steel ...So more ceramic have contact with steel and from there is that more friction and heat .... .They start to act as much higher grit belts and we know that higher grit size belts need to drastically slow the belt speed . . . .Works for me , with Klingspor ceramic belts .
 
jwccustom57 said:
I'm just too frugal...I cut up the finer grit belts into squares for hand or orbital sanding. When they start to fade on the grinder I don't take them too far past that so there's still some life left with the sanding block. Is that wrong??
Click to expand...

Depends on the value you place on time.
 
Natlek said:
Ceramic belts don t get worn .As they break with use they change shape , at one point of belt life you have in one grain more tips/more surface in contact with steel ...So more ceramic have contact with steel and from there is that more friction and heat .... .They start to act as much higher grit belts and we know that higher grit size belts need to drastically slow the belt speed . . . .Works for me , with Klingspor ceramic belts .
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We don't really need to argue semantics here. Anyone who has done any blade grinding at all can see a used (worn, half-life, fractured.....pick any word you want) belt doesn't cut nearly as well as a new one.......even ceramics.

Some of this "ceramics fracture exposing new grain" is marketing hype. If it really worked exactly as they (and you?) say, a ceramic belt would cut like new until you broke all the grit off and were into the backing. They don't cut that way.

I've tried a lot of different belts and I've yet to see one that cuts as good after 10-15 minutes of hard grinding as it did when it was new.

Ceramic belts are awesome........but not quite as awesome as some of the marketing would have us believe.
 
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