Thinkin about gettin a belt sander...

W

WVHILLS

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Aug 2, 2006
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I know some of you HOGS have your own and was wondering if you could point me in the right direction? I just want it to put wicked convex edges on my Busses and Rats. Harbor Freight has one for pretty cheap right now. Anybody that has one could you post some pics please? Thanks
 
A guy HORNDOG has used Harbor Freight to great effect. Has posted many times here and the Scrapyard forums about it. I am buying some belts from Lee Valley for mine to do the same thing. Currently I use sandpaper. I have a Grissley but I use that more for shaping and making knives than sharpening.
 
barrabas74 said:
A guy HORNDOG has used Harbor Freight to great effect. Has posted many times here and the Scrapyard forums about it. I am buying some belts from Lee Valley for mine to do the same thing. Currently I use sandpaper. I have a Grissley but I use that more for shaping and making knives than sharpening.
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What sort of belts, grits etc should I buy if I'm only using it for sharpening? Is there some sort of attachment needed to creat "slack" in the belt? Thanks
 
Do a search in the Maintenance Forum for Harbour Freight. There is one very good thread their about this unit.
 
WVHILLS said:
What sort of belts, grits etc should I buy if I'm only using it for sharpening? Is there some sort of attachment needed to creat "slack" in the belt? Thanks
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The Harbor freight sander has tension adjustments, I got some lee valley 500 grit and 1200 grit belts. But I have been practicing on a lee valley leather belt, just got my belt sander... The leather one does a really nice job on touch ups Ive found so far.:thumbup: Get one!:) The whole set-up cost me less than my edge-pro. Get both actually, with all the asymmetrical edges on busse's you need both for a kick a$$, easily obtained edge, IMO.
 
I have the one from Harbour Freight and it is fine for casual sharpening. If you're going to start a sharpening business in your local area or want to start making knives, the move to something better. Otherwise, the Harbour Freight one will probably last the rest of your life.
 
GregS said:
The Harbor freight sander has tension adjustments, I got some lee valley 500 grit and 1200 grit belts. But I have been practicing on a lee valley leather belt, just got my belt sander... The leather one does a really nice job on touch ups Ive found so far.:thumbup: Get one!:)
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Cool:thumbup:They had an add in the paper the other day that they are on sale:thumbup: Looks like I'll be going down there tomorrow.
 
So can I actually put on a convex edge with this sander or is it better suited for maintaining an existing edge?
 
The finer grit belts I have I got for the purpose of maintaining an edge, I would think a 320 grit belt would be needed to rough out a convexed edge. Than 500, 600, 1000 and so on. Im no expert though, just my best guess.:foot: The leather belt I have makes my convex edges frosty, thats for sure.
 
I have gotten more than my moneys worth out of the HF model.
I am getting ready to upgrade to a kalamazoo 42" now.
 
The HF is great. I got a range of grits, 80, 120, 320 and then the 20, 15 and 9 micron film belts, plus the leather. It was easy to learn and easy to do. It was not hard to reprofile some thick edges down to a narrower angle. Last week before our Chop-In I just touched up all the edges on a used 20 micron belt, and they were well sharp enough.
 
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