Sharpening with a 1" x 42" belt

Himalayan

Himalayan

Joined
Jan 22, 2023
Messages
31
For years I've been using a 1" x 42" bench top belt sander to sharpen our kitchen knives and my Kershaw pocket knives. I use an inexpensive adjustable bevel angle gauge attachment on the platen and 400 grit silicon carbide belt. Typically I have the gauge set at 22.5 degrees and it only takes one or two relatively fast passes on each side to do the job. I keep the blade moving to avoid overheating. It literally takes less than a minute per knife and doesn't appear to be taking much off the blade because I've sharpened the same blades dozens of times. I'm guessing that using expensive stones and/or pro sharpening equipment and expertise would result in a superior edge but at the cost of time and money. As I acquire folders with harder steels I'm wondering if the silicon carbide belts will work. Thoughts?
 
There are two kinds of sharp

Sharp & Stays Sharp .

If you are achieving these , then nuff said !

If mem serves , most factory knives are sharpened on a belt , super steels and all .
 
Himalayan said:
For years I've been using a 1" x 42" bench top belt sander to sharpen our kitchen knives and my Kershaw pocket knives. I use an inexpensive adjustable bevel angle gauge attachment on the platen and 400 grit silicon carbide belt. Typically I have the gauge set at 22.5 degrees and it only takes one or two relatively fast passes on each side to do the job. I keep the blade moving to avoid overheating. It literally takes less than a minute per knife and doesn't appear to be taking much off the blade because I've sharpened the same blades dozens of times. I'm guessing that using expensive stones and/or pro sharpening equipment and expertise would result in a superior edge but at the cost of time and money. As I acquire folders with harder steels I'm wondering if the silicon carbide belts will work. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I mounted my sander on a tilt table so that I can point my apex at the center of the earth. No gage needed. I also strop the edge on the back of the belt (edge trailing).View attachment 2073394
 
My belt sander is single speed and I've gotten used to using it. But I'd like to be able to slow it down some. I have a large Olson variac that I could try but I have my doubts that it would work. I'm scared to try it - don't want to burn it or the sander motor up.
 
I only use my power equipment for flea market knives using a big pail of water. I call the rig “the handle maker”.
 
Himalayan said:
My belt sander is single speed and I've gotten used to using it. But I'd like to be able to slow it down some. I have a large Olson variac that I could try but I have my doubts that it would work. I'm scared to try it - don't want to burn it or the sander motor up.
Click to expand...
There are videos on Youtube showing how to convert belt sanders to variable speed, but it might require replacing the motor.
 
I should have clarified, I don’t slow down the motor. I tinker with belts and pulleys and drive wheel diameter to mechanically reduce the SFPM.

Parker
 
Had too many edges soften when sharpening with a belt sander so I went back to stones. I still use one every now and then for a really beat up edge, but then go back to hand stones. A variable speed machine with a cooling system maybe would have saved me some trouble but it wasn’t in the cards at the time.
 
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