seeking a 1x30 belt sander

I've been sharpening and grinding with the Harbor Freight model 1x30 for a while now. It sharpens great, although I must admit to never trying it on the back like pictured above. I ruined about 4 knives before I got the hang of it. 2 were $2.50 pairing knives, one was the blade on my Gerber multi-tool, and another was a BM Ares, which had already had the serrations ground off after taking a 1/8" chip out of the straight edge portion. I've even ground a couple of blades with it, and am working on the 3rd right now. The first one didnt turn out too good, but that wasnt the machines fault. I have to be careful how I orient that leather honing belt though. I put one on backwards and the lap came apart where it was hitting the platen. That thing cuts like a madman w/ a new 40x Zirconia belt.
 
clt46910 said:
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.
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All of those solutions pretty much negate the value of buying a thirty buck grinder.

Cheapest way to lower the speed of your belt is to change the pulleys.
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Most of those small belt sanders, and the HF one in particular, are direct drive models. The drive wheel is attached to the motor shaft. It's possible to pull the motor and replace it with a shaft and external motor. If doing that, I'd probably go with a pair of triple stepped pulleys, and have a three speed unit. Again, this is an awful lot of trouble for a machine that was bought primarily because it is cheap.

I think I'd just run it as is, and watch the heat of the blade.
 
Just got my 1x30 from harbor frieght today + already did 2 knives that i'm really happy with . Mine doesn't look like that at all plus it cost $59. but well worth it. Will have to get some of those fancy belts!
PS: mine also has a 5" disk which haven't tried yet.
 
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