So who uses cork belts??

Battle Creek Knives

Battle Creek Knives

Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Messages
4,355
I bought a cork belt little over a month ago I have yet to use it...

supposedly its 400 grit but man does it feel like 36grit.....

I didn't do any research or anything when I bought it with a group of other belts, just liked the way it was marketed... thought it would leave a great

machine finish........

anyone have any recommendations on how to use it, prep it, break it in??

I'm almost afraid to use it, looks so aggressive... :D
 
Yeah you definitely want to break them in, but be careful at the edges, since you can end up beating chunks off at first.

I'd recommend getting at-least one of the cork "polishing" belts that have no abrasive if you're really looking to use these for finishing with. These days I'm using a 400, 600, 800 and then polishing belt, all loaded with green chrome compound, but you can get a very nice finish with just the polishing belt and compound if you go through the gator/norax grits or whatever. Although, with the whole set, you can easily jump from cleaning up your plunges to the 400 and go through the line to mirror.
 
Break in is why many don't use them.
It takes a full ten or fifteen minutes to properly break one in. Wear a face shield and respirator when breaking one in as they throw grit at you until the bonding is worn away to expose the abrasive cork.
Most folks charge the belt with a fine abrasive compound, even if it is a belt with abrasives. As javand mentioned, green chrome is a good compound to charge with.
The belts can last a long time when used as a pre-polishing and polish belt. Do all sanding and scratch removal first with your regular belts , and let the cork belts do the finish work.
 
I love cork belts and use them to put a nice, quick machine finish onto user knives. I just load them with belt grease. This helps them run nice and smooth and also limits heat buildup. I'm not so sure about using buffing compound, however, as I've heard it tends to plug up the belt and actually reduce effectiveness. Remember you want the belt to do the work, not the stuff you put on it. If you'd rather buff with compound then, well, use a buffer. :)
 
Take the time to do it stripping the belt and then using the buffing compound. It's messy enough but when used properly can do a super job. The belt grease thing is a grease gun on gone wild !! As well it does work some but not near as well as the other way. Frank
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top