What belts do YOU use.

Sprayman said:
Ha! I can't help but laugh at myself while reading this thread. I use a Craftsman 2x42 with 50 grit and 80 grit belts I buy at Sears. I don't think I'll be appearing on "Forged in Fire" anytime soon. ;)
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Do what makes you happy. I started with a Harbor Freight 1 x 30 and I made some nice knives with it. I still use it for stropping. Gotta start somewhere. It's a pretty deep rabbit hole you can fall down, I will warn you of that!
 
Sprayman said:
Ha! I can't help but laugh at myself while reading this thread. I use a Craftsman 2x42 with 50 grit and 80 grit belts I buy at Sears. I don't think I'll be appearing on "Forged in Fire" anytime soon. ;)
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Until now all I've had is an underpowered Craftsman 4X36 that's older than I am.
 
I've finished experimenting and for my grinding style combat abrasives ceramics work well for me. They give bulk discounts and carry cheap AO belts up to 600 grit in X weight. I hate I flex belts so they're perfect for me.

They also told me they will begin carrying Merritt ceramic in 220 grit which will be a godsend for me. Going from 120 to 220 is easily the most time consuming part of grinding for me, and the 3m 707 J flex is the only other ceramic 220 I've been able to find.
 
Combat Ceramics are more expensive then both Merit and VSM so there is no savings there but if they are for you go for it.
 
Sprayman said:
Ha! I can't help but laugh at myself while reading this thread. I use a Craftsman 2x42 with 50 grit and 80 grit belts I buy at Sears. I don't think I'll be appearing on "Forged in Fire" anytime soon. ;)
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Dude don't even worry about it. I tried to make some knives in one. It was too fast for me and caused more frustration than progress. Hell if it wasn't for another member on here being an angel and cutting out some metal for me to make a grinder I'd still be using it. I'm FINALLY at a point to finish building a 2x72.
I haven't seen the merits. I will look into them also.
What are the thoughts on 3m cubitron 2? Decent price on trugrit. Plan on getting the 120 and 240 gator and a scothbrite for finishing.
 
AVigil said:
Combat Ceramics are more expensive then both Merit and VSM so there is no savings there but if they are for you go for it.
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Yes, they are .50 a belt more than the premium VSM in 36 grit but I tried a dozen of them and they don't have the same life for me.

They're almost half the price 984s, but they last quite a bit longer than half as long. They also answer emails.

If I could get 2 dozen 984s at a crack for 7 bucks each I'd be using them.
 
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Kevin McGovern said:
Do what makes you happy. I started with a Harbor Freight 1 x 30 and I made some nice knives with it. I still use it for stropping. Gotta start somewhere. It's a pretty deep rabbit hole you can fall down, I will warn you of that!
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Oh, I love it--and I fell into the rabbit hole a long time ago. I've had the Craftsman 2x42 for a few years now and have no intention of upgrading for a few years, mostly because a better grinder is not in my budget yet. It's OK. Since I don't know any better, the Craftsman is just fine with me.
 
I was gonna buy a craftsman, but they're no longer available, so I bought a grizzly. Still entry level, but it's what I'm learning on, and doing ok so far.
 
I've been going with Combat Abrasives' ceramic belts for stock removal recently. Amazon was selling boxes of ten for fifty bucks shipped a couple of months ago so I stocked up.
 
kuraki said:
Yes, they are .50 a belt more than the premium VSM in 36 grit but I tried a dozen of them and they don't have the same life for me.

They're almost half the price 984s, but they last quite a bit longer than half as long. They also answer emails.

If I could get 2 dozen 984s at a crack for 7 bucks each I'd be using them.
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L
kuraki said:
I've finished experimenting and for my grinding style combat abrasives ceramics work well for me. They give bulk discounts and carry cheap AO belts up to 600 grit in X weight. I hate I flex belts so they're perfect for me.

They also told me they will begin carrying Merritt ceramic in 220 grit which will be a godsend for me. Going from 120 to 220 is easily the most time consuming part of grinding for me, and the 3m 707 J flex is the only other ceramic 220 I've been able to find.
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I don’t know, seems to me most of the ceramic on the 40 combat ends up in my face or on the work rest. After a couple swipes they just don’t feel sharp anymore. The ao’s work well.
I’ve used the high end Norton/ 3m and some VSM, and also the economy ceramics. Still up in the air on Combat.
 
I have been buying the 3m cubitron 947s for 5$ a pc...they work well but I find they seem to glaze over quickly with my set up and dont seem to work too long on thin very hard steel. I have not found anything that lasts on large and thin kitchen knives.
 
For 36 grit I haven't found anything to come close to Norton r999b ceramics. They beat the piss out of blaze, and are noticeably better than vsm.
In 60 grit I'm still looking for my favorite. I've been running vsm xk760 ceramics for a while, but mainly because I still haven't finished the pile of them from a few years back. I do quite like them though. I've tried blaze 60s (don't particularly like them) the various klingspor ceramics (even worse than blaze) and a few others. 3m 984f cubitrons are my favorite, but they aren't 3x better than vsm.... I'm trying a few other ones too, so maybe I'll find something better than vsm, maybe I won't.
120 I rarely use, but mostly use blaze out of convenience as they are the easiest to get for me. I do most of my blade finishing with a combination of Gators and Cork belts.

Everything else I run is Klingspor. That's mostly because I have a klingspor dealer with very good prices locally, but they are my favorite belts regardless. I keep x weight 220 zirconia belts around, and 100, 220, and 400 grit jflex AO. I split them either in half or quarters to use for handle shaping.
I have a whole pile of other assorted belts, but they mostly just take up space and collect dust.

I'll add that I hollow grind almost exclusively apart from kitchen knives, and I have a really low tolerance for slow belts. I usually toss belts on the profiling pile with upwards of 75% of their life left. Initial cut speed and how long that initial fast period lasts is a lot more important to me than how much grinding it can be forced to do.
 
Geoff Flato said:
For 36 grit I haven't found anything to come close to Norton r999b ceramics. They beat the piss out of blaze, and are noticeably better than vsm.
In 60 grit I'm still looking for my favorite. I've been running vsm xk760 ceramics for a while, but mainly because I still haven't finished the pile of them from a few years back. I do quite like them though. I've tried blaze 60s (don't particularly like them) the various klingspor ceramics (even worse than blaze) and a few others. 3m 984f cubitrons are my favorite, but they aren't 3x better than vsm.... I'm trying a few other ones too, so maybe I'll find something better than vsm, maybe I won't.
120 I rarely use, but mostly use blaze out of convenience as they are the easiest to get for me. I do most of my blade finishing with a combination of Gators and Cork belts.

Everything else I run is Klingspor. That's mostly because I have a klingspor dealer with very good prices locally, but they are my favorite belts regardless. I keep x weight 220 zirconia belts around, and 100, 220, and 400 grit jflex AO. I split them either in half or quarters to use for handle shaping.
I have a whole pile of other assorted belts, but they mostly just take up space and collect dust.

I'll add that I hollow grind almost exclusively apart from kitchen knives, and I have a really low tolerance for slow belts. I usually toss belts on the profiling pile with upwards of 75% of their life left. Initial cut speed and how long that initial fast period lasts is a lot more important to me than how much grinding it can be forced to do.
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Thanks Geoff lots of good insight.
I'm sup4ised at how much love the VSM and Merritt belts are getting. Can't wait to try them out myself
 
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