Sander Sharpening: Starting Setup

E

egroeg555

Joined
Jun 4, 2006
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So far for sharpening I have used a cheap rough ceramic stone for rough work and the sharpmaker to sharpen the edge. Recently I have used the sandpaper with mousepad method for a convex edge. At this point I'd like to try out using a sander. I have complied the following list of what I'm thinking of getting and I'm looking for any suggestions or recommendations. I'd like to be able to do anything from fixing the edge on a machete that hit a rock to giving a nice edge to my pocket folder.

Belt sander: Harbor Freight $40 1"x30" sander (I have some reservations here because it seems like there could be some quality issues. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'm willing to spend more at this point.)

Sanding belts: There seem to be multiple options here that are offered by Lee Valley Tools. I'm thinking of two main options. First, I could get the 3M Aluminum oxide grinding belts in grits 180, 320, 500, 1200 and a 15µ Silicon Carbide Sharpening Belt. Or, I could get the 3M Trizact belts in 80µ, 45µ, 30µ, 16µ, 6µ.
Do you have any suggestions for which option or combination of the options would work well?

Stropping: It seems like I should get the Lee Valley Leather Honing Belt. However, I'm not sure about what compound to get. I saw some recommendations to get the white 525 compound from Pop's Knives and Supplies. How does this compare to the Lee Valley Veritas Honing Compound.


I got most of this information from Jerry Hossom's post: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4916570&postcount=78
 
I your not after a mirror polished edge, you don't really need all the grits. You can get by fine with a 120ish grit for rebeveling and removing damage like chips or dents, and a finer belt, say in the 220 to 400 grit range. I've gotten really aggressive hair shaving edges off a 120 grit followed by leather honing belt. I use white compound from Sears. I hear Green Chromium Oxide works good as well as Pop's white compound. I think Knifenut posted about sharpening his dad's Delica with an 80 grit belt and then leather belt w/ Green CrO.
 
I have been using a thee hf 1x30 for several months with zero issues. At first I was using 80, 120, 300, and 600 grit from supergrit, and some white rouge on an old leather belt. That worked really well for everything. More recently I ordered some 1200 grit, and 15 micron belts from Lee Valley, mine don't fit properly, I had to run some masking tape around one of the wheels to take up the slack; seems to work just fine.
I really feel like I can get a much better result in less time with the finer grit belts in my arsenal. IMO, may as well buy one or two finer grit belts just to try out, its only a few more bucks.
YMMV
 
Don't misunderstand me. I'd really like to try the 2000 grit Trizact belts from Lee Valley. I just can't justify $7 per belt. I'm just saying if you want to try this way, and don't want to buy $30 worth of belts, one or two will work. I have a butcher knife that hasn't been back to the sander for sharpening in going on 2 years. It has been touched upon the fine white rods of the Sharpmaker. I sharpened my current EDC on my belt sander months ago, and have only had to go back to the Sharpmaker for resharpening since then. Microbevels are great.
 
I'm not really set on any particular set of belts. However, I do like the idea of being able to make a mirror finish, and I think it's probably a good idea to have a good range of grits for versatility.

So, I guess a more specific question would be: Which belts are better in the fine ranges? The 16µ/6µ Trizact or the 15µ Silicon Carbide? I don't really know what the difference is. Also, what about for mid-rough range grits, should I go with cheaper belts? Which belts do you get?

Also, what belt/compound do you use for stropping? I figured I'd get the leather belt form lee valley, but I read someone saying the leather wasn't good, so I don't know. For compound, can anyone comment on the difference between the Lee Valley Veritas and the Pop's white 525?

Crunky, I see a bunch of different belts at Supergrit. Which are the ones you got?
 
I'm running the black SC belts from Supergrit. I'm using the aluminum oxide belts from Lee Valley, I got these just to try out and test my results. Of course the alum. oxide don't hold up so well, So I think I'm going to order me some of the Trizact belts in a few weeks.
 
I have Trizacts down to the A3. I haven't ever seen a micron scale of Trizacts, but would like to. AFAIK, there are very few places that carry A3. I think they work pretty well, but not necessarily much better than the mylar belts that go down to 6 (or 9?) micron. The charged leather is what really makes a big difference IMHO. I can't get rip snortin sharp without leather.
 
grizzled gizzard said:
I have Trizacts down to the A3. I haven't ever seen a micron scale of Trizacts, but would like to. AFAIK, there are very few places that carry A3. I think they work pretty well, but not necessarily much better than the mylar belts that go down to 6 (or 9?) micron. The charged leather is what really makes a big difference IMHO. I can't get rip snortin sharp without leather.
Click to expand...

What is A3? I assume this is a grit measure or something. And where do you get mylar belts from? If the Trizacts aren't much better and the mylar is cheaper, it could make sense to go with the mylar.
 
The grit specifications of Trizacts that I have are from A160 to A3, with A3 being the finest. That's just what their designation is. I don't think it really relates to any grit size, but I don't know for sure. I get mine from a gentleman named Doug Rising, who lives down in Texas. I would really have to dig to find his number.

The Mylar backed 3M belts I have go down to 9u, but after some use, they polish very nicely.
 
Ah, ok. The Trizacts I'm looking at on the Lee Valley site are listed by micron sizes and I think the belts they list as "Aluminum Oxide Grinding Belts" are the same as the Mylar backed you mentioned. Anyway, it sounds like the only way I'm going to really get an idea how well these belts work is to use them myself.

Also, I forgot to ask, you mentioned that the charged leather works well for you. What belt/compound do you use?
 
TrizactGrits2.jpg


http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSu7zK1fslxtUNxmUoY_Sev7qe17zHvTSevTSeSSSSSS--

cbw
 
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