Surface conditioning belts

[GRapp]

Scotch-Brite. Do you use fine or ultrafine? Seems I'd like medium as the finest to keep a satin finish. Where do you stop and why? I don't want to purchase each and never use half of them twice.

 

[Thescrawnylumberjack]

I don’t use them because I use high carbide steels and if it’s not ceramic it doesn’t do much of anything

 

[Cliff Carter Knives]

I generally stick with medium and fine, but my belt satin finishes never go above 400grit. A trick I’ve found is to spray some wd40 on them before use, they’ll blend the finish more softly.

Be aware that they won’t stay so neatly within your bevels as a normal belt would, so you’ll likely get some light scratches spilling beyond the top of your bevels or at your plunges. I mostly use them for finishing flats pre bevels or for full flat ground knives.

 

[Taz]

Yeah, they work nicely finish flats before grinding bevels, or full flat grinds, but can mess up plunge and grind lines. WD-40 makes them work better, just like Cliff Carter says! I have medium, fine and extra/super fine. Don't use the medium much anymore.

I've been using some Cubitron 726+ J belts lately and they work well, even on Magnacut. VSM Compact Grain work pretty well as do ceramic Trizact and Norax belts for a nice satin belt finish.

 

[Thescrawnylumberjack]

Cork belts and compound could be something to explore

 

[Taz]

I have one of those kicking around somewhere in the shop too...lol.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I like the very finest ones for blade finishing.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I only tried medium, I believe it's kinda maroon?
Hearing y'all like the finer, I'll try them.

Are you ever worried about cross contamination?
I'm thinking I"ll have to store them on the opposite side of my basement (for stainless)

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I only tried medium, I believe it's kinda maroon?
Hearing y'all like the finer, I'll try them.

Are you ever worried about cross contamination?
I'm thinking bill have to store them on the opposite side of my basement (for stainless)

Yeah maroon are still good on blades but kind of aggressive and can cause rounding. Very good for rounding and deburring.

Cross contamination really isn't an issue, I do try to keep them clean. You can wash them and it kind of helps. Juat store out of the way of grinding swarf and spark zone.

They work well wet or with a wet knife too.

 

[GRapp]

Well heck, sounds like the fine might be something I need to try then.

 

[DevinT]

I belt finish finer than the non-woven belt and then go over the blade with a fine or very fine surface conditioning belt for a very nice finish.

Hoss

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Medium and fine.

 

[J. Hoffman]

For the best finish I use the blue, followed by the grey and then finish with the blue. I've tried all different kinds of solutions and compounds (water, cutting fluid, cutting paste, oil, Windex, leprechaun spit and WD40) WD40 is the best by far. I put WD40 in a graffiti marker and wipe it on the blade when finishing.

 

[Horsewright]

I finish to a 220 grit then the maroon Scothbrite followed by the blue/green. So I guess that's a medium and then a fine, dunno. I just know em by color and that has worked very well for me for years. Makes a very tough and durable using finish.

 

[Scaniaman]

I pretty much only use the maroon (medium?) now. After 220 grit it leaves a very reasonable user finish.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I pretty much only use the maroon (medium?) now. After 220 grit it leaves a very reasonable user finish.

That's what I'm doing, but I was curious what the finer ones would look like

 

[Taz]

I usually go to a finer belt finish (A45 Gator or A30 Ceramic Norax, Cubitron 400 726+ belt, or VSM Compact Grain 400-600) and then the grey or blue non woven belts for my finishes. I have a maroon non woven, but don't use it much anymore. Flats I have been doing lengthwise with a A45, A30, 320 or 400 belt finish typically, after the non woven to clean the bevel line up a bit.

Blue non woven IIRC after the 400 belts


If I want shinier, I go up in Compact Grain or Ceramic Norax, or sometimes use my cork with compound. Not the best pic, but this one was 600 flats and up to the 1000/1200 range on belts:


Instagram degraded the quality, but this is the 1000/1200 ish belt look on the knife above:

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And these are the A45 or A30 and Dark Grey non woven:

 

[godogs57]

I take it down to 400 grit and then hit it with a Pop's very fine conditioning belt (blue). Some only take it to 220 but I've found in my case, 400 results in a better overall finish for me. The gray extra fine belt didn't work well in my case. As others have said, spraying with WD-40 improves the finished product.

 

[J Lensmire]

Totally new to trying these belts since I just received my VFD grinder, didn’t want to try with single speed 2x42. My question is, WD-40 the belt or periodically on steel? If belt how wet? Lastly, how slow of belt speed? Less then setting for your 400/800 grit?
I understand I need to experiment but at least trying to get a reasonable starting point, so I’m not reinventing the wheel.

 

[Taz]

I spray the WD40 onto the moving belt itself. A few spritz usually does it. The belts are thick and have give to them, so you can run them a good bit faster than you would with a fine grit regular finishing belt, but they do generate heat I've run them pretty fast on my 2x72 or slowed way down. They can catch a corner or tip though, so you need to be careful.

I also prefer to bring the blade to a higher belt finish and then go back down to the non woven belts to smooth/blend more.