seeking a 1x30 belt sander

S

sfm

Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Messages
7
I want to buy a 1x30 belt sander to use with knives and other sharpening needs.
I want something, not too expensive, but of decent quality and that will be the job.

I am looking at one being offered through HarborFreight. It is $29 (plus shipping or/and sales tax). Its made by Central Machinery and seems to be what I was looking for.l

Then I checked to see what was available on ebay. Their is a vendor selling new 1x30 belt sanders for $9.95 (and $29.95 for shipping). The end cost would be about the same for both. The seller states the retail cost of his sanders are $95. I cant see any name on the picture he has posted of the sander.

Which one would be better? Or doesnt it matter? Or is there a better one someplace else?
 
3400 RPM seems a little fast. At that speed you take a chance of overheating blades. 1700 RPMs seems to be a little better. JMHO
 
Yes, sure. I would like one that can operate at 1700rpm but I cant find one at a good price. I have read that if a person uses a light touch and quick strokes and makes use of a bucket of water or wet towels if necessary it will work okay.
 
For a 1" x 30", as long as it runs, it's okay. Got mine from Harbor Freight, but I'm sure that most of the budget-priced sanders come from the same few factories. Got my sharpest edges from using an 80 grit belt, a 15 micron (about 1000 grit) belt, and a leather belt with 0.5 micron abrasive compound.
 
I for the one from Harbor Freight and ir works fine with various belts. I am working on my convexing on some beat users. I just work it until it starts to get warm and then cool it with water. I have not damaged a blade yet.

Cerberus:thumbup:
 
sfm said:
I want to buy a 1x30 belt sander to use with knives and other sharpening needs.
I want something, not too expensive, but of decent quality and that will be the job.
Click to expand...

I got the Delta 30 inch belt sander with the disk. I do not use the belt very much because it costs so much. You can buy 5 or 6 inch discs a lot cheaper, because it is the same size they use out in the body shops. It is also a lot easier to change the disc, then it is to change the belt.

It does not really matter what the sander cost, what matters to me is what the sand paper cost. In my case I use it enough so that I pay more for the sand paper then I do for the sander.
 
I have the HF disc/belt sander and it is really well worth the little money it costs. I use waterstones to refine the edge and work the wire edge and take it off with the fine belts and leather belt with yellowstrop. After many years struggling to sharpen, I finally learned when I started to do chisels and plane irons. Now all my knives POP. The electrostatic belts here are truly miraculous, so is a lot of thier other stuff.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48040&cat=1,43072
 
lee valley tools has a belt sander that you can add your own motor to. I'm looking at a variable speed grinder. I have some paper wheels for sharpening to put on it.
 
roknjs said:
3400 RPM seems a little fast. At that speed you take a chance of overheating blades. 1700 RPMs seems to be a little better. JMHO
Click to expand...

You're interested in belt speed, not motor RPM per se. 1700 vs 3400 doesn't mean much if you don't know the diameter of the drive wheel.
 
All other things being equal it seems like a faster turning motor will make the belt move faster. I really don't care what the size of the drive wheel is if I can slow the motor down without causing a problem or damaging it. Am I missing something and the motor speed and belt speed are not related?
 
irabren said:
what about using a smaller motor - wouldn't that decrease the RPM ??
Click to expand...

Sure would, but wouldn't work as well as a stronger motor moving slower than normal. It'd be easier to overwork the smaller motor.
 
You can not add a rheostate to a constant speed motor to slow it down. The motor would overheat and possiblely burn it out. For that you would need a variable speed motor. Personally if I was wanting to do this I would look into the DC units. There are variable speed motors but they do cost a lot more. Cheapest way to lower the speed of your belt is to change the pulleys. A smaller pulley on the motor is normally the easiest way to do this.

I am new here and learning but this is something I can answer as I worked as a electrician and in maintenance for many years. I am hoping to start a small home based knife sharpening business and found out I have a lot more to learn then I thought....LOL Great information on this forum.
 
DGG said:
Is there something like a rheostat switch which will slow the motor/belt speed down without having to fool around with different sized pulleys?
Click to expand...

A rheostat works off of resistance and so you would need a heavy duty rheostat to handle the high wattage of a motor.

A dimmer light switch is usually designed to handle 600 watts or less. Sears just came out with a variable speed grinder. You could check with them to see what the cost would be on the rheostat part, but it would not surprise me if it cost half of what the grinder cost to buy new.

Right now I am using a variable speed drill when I want to control the speed. For example, high speed buffing will create to much heat and melt the plastic handle on a knife real fast. So I put a buffing wheel on a drill to slow it down to buff out the plastic handles with. The drill I have has a little wheel on the trigger to control the speed. I just got a adjustable clamp and a board to hold it down, nothing fancy at all, but it works for me. Of course buffing is going to be hard on the bearings in the drill, so you may want to find something with heavy duty bearings in it. It is usually the bearing that go out on them anyways. Just about any tool like that on Ebay will have a good motor in it, but the bearings will be starting to go so that the tool is starting to get a lot of vibration. In good condition on Ebay means anything with less vibration than a jack hammer.
 
irabren said:
what about using a smaller motor - wouldn't that decrease the RPM ??
Click to expand...

Smaller motor does not mean a slower running speed, just less power. A lot of different sized motors will have the same run speeds. Most common will be somewhere around 1000-2000 or mid 3000s. You use gears or pulleys to get the final working speeds you need for your operation.
 
I've been using the el-chaep-o Harbor Freight 1"x30" belt sander professionally for about (?) 6-8 months now and this little sucker is still going strong. It's made me quite a bit of money and paid for itself the first time I used it.


P1010051resize.jpg


P1010076resize.jpg


For more pictures CLICK HERE


As you can see I modified it a bit as I prefer the belt to be lying down and travelling away from me.


This sander isn't what I really want but it works great at straight sharpening and is compact for use in my truck.

Excessive heat build up and metal removal is just as much the responsibility of the sharpener as it is the type of belt used and belt speed provided. Quick passes with light pressure is the ticket. Do not stall to think about what you're doing. Think about it first and then make your pass and everything will be fine. I would still suggest practicing on some beater knives before attacking your finer cutlery.

You really can't go wrong going with this one. :)


--Dave--
 
irabren said:
so - how do you get the motor to slow down ?
Click to expand...

Take D_R_Sharpening's advice to make quick, light passes with the blade over the belt. I would also add waiting a few seconds between passes (I generally wait 5-10) for the steel to cool down. Some folks dunk in water, but that can add extra stress to the edge of the blade if it really did over heat and just make a mess if it didn't.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top