What is the best 220 grit belt

scott.livesey said:
yes, change a belt when it is worn out. but belts are not free. usually belts are the largest expense when making a knife except for labor. finding the best combination of belt speed, pressure, wet/dry makes a difference in the bottom line. on the subject of 220 belts, bought 50 3M 707E belts for $40 delivered.
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That is a deal 3M 707 JE usually run about $6 each.
Where did you get such a good deal?
 
scott.livesey said:
yes, change a belt when it is worn out. but belts are not free. usually belts are the largest expense when making a knife except for labor. finding the best combination of belt speed, pressure, wet/dry makes a difference in the bottom line. on the subject of 220 belts, bought 50 3M 707E belts for $40 delivered.
Click to expand...
Scott, You are a cheap son of a gun!.... but very smart too. I admire your logic in buying belts cheap and using them like they are free. Larry
 
Matthew Gregory said:
I'm always concerned when the discussion revolves back to longevity. Longevity implies duration in time. I couldn't care less how long the belt lasts, in fact if the damn thing dissolved immediately upon completing the task I was doing, I wouldn't mind, as long as it completed the task.
If I can clean up what I'm working on with a fresh belt in two or three quick passes, and then the belt is spent, despite it only lasting two minutes, it did what I needed it to do. Sharp, clean and fast cutting is far more important than extended life, especially if the 'extended life' is at a reduced efficiency. My goal is to progress to the next step, quickly, and without heat buildup. The only way I've found to achieve that is with fresh abrasives. I'm more apt to make a mistake on a grind if I have to keep repeating that grind again and again because my belt is partially glazed, or not cutting efffectively, or the speed of the grinder is reduced to increase 'perceived' belt life.
I suspect some of you are running things slowly because you're concerned with control - a faster belt can be awfully unforgiving. As your grinding skills improve, though, consider increasing your speed to improve the cutting efficiency of your abrasives. Your belt won't 'last longer', but you'll be achieving more in the span of time it's used, and that's what this is supposed to be about...

Although much of this falls into the arena of personal preference, remember that these tools were intended for certain speeds and pressures to 'resharpen' themselves through grit fracture. Again, you have to be the one to gauge this, and I'm not telling you to throw a fresh 220 on and ramp your ass up to 6k sfpm (although for 36 grit that's probably what you should be doing...), but you may find you're spending less time doing something - with cleaner results! - if the speed is at the 'right' speed.

Don't be afraid to contact the companies that make this stuff and ask, btw - even if it just means posing a question on their website 'general mailbox'. You may be surprised at how accommodating they can be, and you may also find that they have a different product to offer you for your particular grinding style that make work better.
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^^^ This! Depending on the size of the blade i'm grinding, I usually only get 1 knife Per Belt, of the grit progressions . About the first 50% of grit of any belt is all I'm really interested in for grinding my pre-HTed blades.
Then the belt goes to Don't give a %$#@ pile for profiling & such.

One of the best pieces of "Advice" I was told when I started being a grinding fool, was,

Use belts as if they are Free! If I spend $20-30 on belts, for a knife I sell for $400.00 and up, and it allows me to make more knives, I'm making more $$ for a small expense

Back to the OP's Question. Sometimes when I want a certain grit belt to have a thicker weight backing, I put a Fresh belt over a used high grit belt on my machine!

Try it! You'll Like it!
 
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