What is the difference between Norton Blaze and 3M Cubitron belts?

Another plug for the 967's..I like me' best for profile grinding and hogging..We buy them from Pop's..Tracy gets the majority our business but we buy most of our belts from Pop's..
 
I'm not the most experienced grinder out there, but here's my input on low-grit ceramics:

I've used both Blazes (R980) and 3M 977s. In my experience, the life expectancy and material removal rate is much the same, but the Blaze belts cut smoother and cleaner in the the same grit. I purchased my 977 belts from Pops, and my Blazes from several different sources (my most recent purchase was from Tracy utilizing his quantity discounts... It has been awhile, so my stash of Blazes is pre-"black goo". I'd be interested to try some of the other 3M belts mentioned in the future (967s or the new 984s).

As a side note, I also will use Norton R824 Blue Zircs sometimes for pre-HT hogging. They seem to last (for my grinding style and speeds) almost as long as the ceramics but they tend to leave a rougher finish. At two-thirds the cost of ceramics, sometimes it's a wash. Picking belts off the rack seems to be more of an art than a science for me at this point... with a fair amount of voodoo intuition mixed in. :D

Erin

Erin
 
IME the Blaze belts cut really well for a short bit of time, and then "just okay" for weeks. This is ideal for use in a fab shop, but not so much in a knife shop.

Testamonials about how many blades a belt will grind mean next to nothing for me. What size blades? What steel? How thick? How thin do you grind? How do you grind?

There's been a couple times that I have used two coarse belts for just one huge blade.

I care much more about quality of cut than a belt lasting 6 months. Eight times out of ten, problems a new maker is having with his/her grinding are due to worn out belts.... worn out belts rub, they don't cut. A simple test (before you get a "feel" for this stuff) is to look at the finish a coarse belt is leaving on your blade. A 50, 60, 80 grit belt should be leaving a dull finish with clean/clear/defined sanding marks. If your 60X belt is leaving a bright, shiny surface, it's not cutting anymore... it's burnishing.

For me, the 3M belts have bumped out the Blaze belts.
 
I use Blaze or 967F belts for roughing. They're close enough to each other in performance. If I buy belts from Pop's (I try to, his prices are good) I go with 967, since he doesn't carry Blaze. If I order from Trugrit, I get Blazes 'cause I like them and they're a bit cheaper than 967s.

I do notice that if I'm hogging with the platen aggressively, the belt splice on the gold belts doesn't hold up quite as well as the orange belts. I popped two 967's recently and have never popped a Blaze belt...
 
Yeah there's a big difference to me between the 967 cubitrons and the 984 cubitron iis. As Nick mentioned, its about how long they continue to actually cut. I think the advantage of these belts is that the abrasive breaks down with much lower pressures, and continues to exhibit sharpness. I also notice a less extreme transition between initial sharpness and broken in sharp, compared to the blaze belts.

One big thing with the blaze belts that seems important to me also, is that you break any sharp corners with a dull belt first, as the blazes seem to really suffer by flinging whole grit when hit by a sharp angle.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
I've been using the 3M 984f in 36 in 60 grit for about 8 months. I like the way they perform. They seem to last quite a bit longer than the 977's which I used for 2 years.
The surface fractures well when you dress the belt. I'll continue to use them until a better belt comes along.
Click to expand...

I know this is an old thread... But Fred when you say dress the belt, what do you mean and how do you do it?

I love the 984f's but it seems like they cut well for a short while and then last forever and have a ton of grit left on their surface. I end up throwing them away sometimes simply because I can't waste the extra time grinding/burnishing the steel.

I am wondering if the blaze 60 grit's would work better because they fracture very easily and they would keep nice fresh grit there to grind. Just thinking out loud here...
 
I use both belts often and cannot pick a favorite but I am now leaning toward the Norton Blaze because of the aggressive cut. They do leave more crud on your platen. I think we should buy whichever has a better price. Lucky that we have such choices to make. Larry
 
What we do as knifemakers is frankly pretty dang abusive to grinding belts in general. We need to remember that almost everyone else in the metal-working fields uses belt grinders to take off thousandths, not hundredths. Most people hogging off that amount of steel are using mills and lathes, not KMG's. There's a reason for that. ;)

I agree with Larry... buy whichever of those belts is on sale, they're all pretty good. In my experience, almost any coarse belts from 3M, Norton or Klingspor work about the same, especially for hogging and setting basic bevels. I've been trying some "off-brand" belts over the last few months, and frankly I can't tell much difference except in price. They all cut best when they're sharp and fresh.

Use them like they're free. For all the hype and claims about belts that self-sharpen by fracturing themselves and grind dozens of blades without wearing out, I've yet to find one serious stock-removal belt that truly lasts much longer than any other. They all get clogged, they all glaze over, and they all wear out.
 
Last edited:
My local supplier doesn't carry the 3M brand but I recently purchased a few Norax U936 X200 (75 grit) that I'm looking forward to trying. I've only used the Blaze belts in the 36 and 60 grit so far.
 
I have an old dressing stone that I use when my low grit blaze belts start to get smooth and clogged, it seems to give them a little extra life, you have to apply firm pressure and move the dressing stone around a lot, also reversing the belt helps too, above 120 grit it doesn't seem to have any effect other then tear down to the cloth.

Funny, one afternoon I was looking at my pile of used belts and I got the idea to put one of the belts on the anvil and smash the grit a little just to see what would happen, and it did improve the sharpness, but it was so lumpy that it wasn't really good for anything other then de-burring, and rough shaping wood.

Boredom the mother of invention ;0)
 
I don't know if this will really help but it sure it fun to watch :D

[video=youtube;npAL4tyexHM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npAL4tyexHM[/video]

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
John Katt said:
I have an old dressing stone that I use when my low grit blaze belts start to get smooth and clogged, it seems to give them a little extra life, you have to apply firm pressure and move the dressing stone around a lot, also reversing the belt helps too, above 120 grit it doesn't seem to have any effect other then tear down to the cloth.

Funny, one afternoon I was looking at my pile of used belts and I got the idea to put one of the belts on the anvil and smash the grit a little just to see what would happen, and it did improve the sharpness, but it was so lumpy that it wasn't really good for anything other then de-burring, and rough shaping wood.

Boredom the mother of invention ;0)
Click to expand...

Dude, this is a great idea! I tried the dressing stone thing and it seems to give me a decent amount more of life out of my belts... thanks for the tip!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top