What's the longest lasting belt for rough grinding?

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Anyone tried the Red Label abrasive belts? They sound good. I will likely try a batch since I have to re-order belts once I am up and running fully.
www.redlabelabrasives.com

Red Label Abrasives | Abrasive Company | Buy Factory Direct

Professional quality abrasive products. Sanding belts, sanding discs, rolls, sheets and accessories for DIY, small businesses, artists and artisans.
www.redlabelabrasives.com www.redlabelabrasives.com
Click to expand...

REK Knives said:
I heard they were good but haven't had a chance to try them
Click to expand...

I've been using their 36 grit edge core (ceramic) belts for all my hogging for over a year and a half now, and their 120 edge core and 220 green belts, and assorted scotchbrite. I can't compare them to a lot of other stuff for longevity or cutting speed, as I don't have experience with a lot of different brands, but I know these get the job done for me at a price I can afford.
 
Thanks.

With the discounts, a large order seems pretty cost effective. I'll try them out and see how they last.
Most grinding will be done post-HT. High pressure and speed with a water spray and chilled platen.
 
AVigil said:
Ceramics need to be run fast, those grits need to be ran slow.
Click to expand...
I know. I barely ever use them (which is why I still have them). It’s just that very, very occasionally it seems they are the right thing to reach for … like last month I was “tuning up” an old set of henkels (sp?) for my sister(thinning the bevels, slight re profiling, etc), and part of what I was doing was grinding down the now protruding bolsters. My ceramics end at 120, and that left too rough a finish on the bolsters … so I reached for those finer ceramics instead of my scalloped edge AO belts (which I reserve for handle work). For bevels I usually go to gator belts to refine the finish, but I did not want to risk damaging them on the edges of the bolster … and I also was not sure about using them on my small wheel.

When those old ceramic belts give up the ghost, I will likely just get some really cheap AO belts for this kind of occasional usage…
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Thanks.

With the discounts, a large order seems pretty cost effective. I'll try them out and see how they last.
Most grinding will be done post-HT. High pressure and speed with a water spray and chilled platen.
Click to expand...

I also do my grinding post HT, with a water... bucket. :) But just wanted to add that their customer service is outstanding. Matt and Andrew are twin brothers who work on their customer service team, and they have been very good to me. Plus if you are willing to write a brief review with photo of what you buy and post it to their site (easy to do), they will give you 15% off your next order.... every single time. So in reality, the only time you ever need to pay full price is the first time you order.
 
Cushing H. said:
I know. I barely ever use them (which is why I still have them). It’s just that very, very occasionally it seems they are the right thing to reach for … like last month I was “tuning up” an old set of henkels (sp?) for my sister(thinning the bevels, slight re profiling, etc), and part of what I was doing was grinding down the now protruding bolsters. My ceramics end at 120, and that left too rough a finish on the bolsters … so I reached for those finer ceramics instead of my scalloped edge AO belts (which I reserve for handle work). For bevels I usually go to gator belts to refine the finish, but I did not want to risk damaging them on the edges of the bolster … and I also was not sure about using them on my small wheel.

When those old ceramic belts give up the ghost, I will likely just get some really cheap AO belts for this kind of occasional usage…
Click to expand...

I use AO belts a lot. After 50 grit I go to Hermes RB346MX. They grind nice, easily get into the plunge and are cheap.

Nothing better then grabbing a new belt and it cost only $2.60
 
HSC /// said:
Vsm xk870x 40 grit does the bulk of the grinding like 90% of it
Vsm 80 and 100...
Click to expand...
On your 80 and 100 grit, are you still using the XK870X?
I found these a little longer lasting for me than the 885's...
 
David Mary said:
I also do my grinding post HT, with a water... bucket. :) But just wanted to add that their customer service is outstanding. Matt and Andrew are twin brothers who work on their customer service team, and they have been very good to me. Plus if you are willing to write a brief review with photo of what you buy and post it to their site (easy to do), they will give you 15% off your next order.... every single time. So in reality, the only time you ever need to pay full price is the first time you order.
Click to expand...
I haven't used these so I cant compare but the VSM CERAMIC PLUS XK885Y I use from pops are still cheaper than these even including the 15% off
 
weo said:
On your 80 and 100 grit, are you still using the XK870X?
I found these a little longer lasting for me than the 885's...
Click to expand...
Yes

I don’t know ...I’ve never really been one to measure the longevity or performance of one belt over the other. I mean I have a general sense of what I like and what works for me, but I don’t go much beyond that.

VSM for me are the best value belt, particularly the 40 grit which does most of the work.

for the higher grits I prefer them to be new and sharp as they do the finish bevel work when the blade is thin so a sharp belt at slow speed doesn’t heat up the material
 
I don't really care what the price is per belt from a business perspective. I like to test them with my grinding speed and pressure under flood coolant (when hogging) and see how many I can get per belt. Then I can divide the per belt cost by the amount of blades I get on one belt to give me the per knife belt fee. That's what I'm interested in, what is the least amount of time for the least amount of money.

I will give red label abrasives a shot at some point soon to see how it goes
 
REK Knives said:
I don't really care what the price is per belt from a business perspective. I like to test them with my grinding speed and pressure under flood coolant (when hogging) and see how many I can get per belt. Then I can divide the per belt cost by the amount of blades I get on one belt to give me the per knife belt fee. That's what I'm interested in, what is the least amount of time for the least amount of money.

I will give red label abrasives a shot at some point soon to see how it goes
Click to expand...
I recently picked up some of the new vsm actirox belts from Brodbeck to try out, I’ve heard that Popsknifesupplies is going to be carrying them as well and was very impressed with their performance for me. I compared them to vsm 870, 885, unbranded vsm from preferred abrasives and cubitron 967 and they beat out all of those on performance and cost. They ended up costing 10 cents per inch doing all post heat treat grinding, the vsm 885s were the next best for me at 15 cents per inch all of the other belts were 20 cents or more per inch. This was with a 14” serrated wheel doing hollow grinds that came up about 3/4-1” the one belt I did wear out is still going for profiling and pre heat treat grinding which ends up bringing the total cost down. The only downside is they are only in 36 grit but they felt like they gave me a lot of control for a coarse belt. Obviously this would be different for everyone but they are worth giving a try. They are about 16.50 per belt but they lasted and performed far better for me.

VSM ACTIROX - AK890Y

us.vsmabrasives.com us.vsmabrasives.com
 
Joshua Fisher said:
I recently picked up some of the new vsm actirox belts from Brodbeck to try out, I’ve heard that Popsknifesupplies is going to be carrying them as well and was very impressed with their performance for me. I compared them to vsm 870, 885, unbranded vsm from preferred abrasives and cubitron 967 and they beat out all of those on performance and cost. They ended up costing 10 cents per inch doing all post heat treat grinding, the vsm 885s were the next best for me at 15 cents per inch all of the other belts were 20 cents or more per inch. This was with a 14” serrated wheel doing hollow grinds that came up about 3/4-1” the one belt I did wear out is still going for profiling and pre heat treat grinding which ends up bringing the total cost down. The only downside is they are only in 36 grit but they felt like they gave me a lot of control for a coarse belt. Obviously this would be different for everyone but they are worth giving a try. They are about 16.50 per belt but they lasted and performed far better for me.

VSM ACTIROX - AK890Y

us.vsmabrasives.com us.vsmabrasives.com
Click to expand...
That looks super interesting... I'll pick a couple up to give them a go!
 
I found the Hermes 120 and 220 ceramics work very well and are flexible to do plunge cuts. I usually use VSM 870 and 885s and want to try the ActiRox. I do all of my grinding post HT, so I am happy to get several blades out of one belt.
 
AVigil said:
I use AO belts a lot. After 50 grit I go to Hermes RB346MX. They grind nice, easily get into the plunge and are cheap.

Nothing better then grabbing a new belt and it cost only $2.60
Click to expand...
Those the new blue ones? They sent me some to try out and I really liked em. Seemed like I got more out of them then my normal Merit j flexs. Ordered some up. Did have some dye transfer on lighter colored handle material (elk and camel bone) at 400 grit but nothing the regular Merit green 600 grits didn't take off in the next step anyhoo. Interestingly no transfer at 220 grit.
 
Horsewright said:
Those the new blue ones? They sent me some to try out and I really liked em. Seemed like I got more out of them then my normal Merit j flexs. Ordered some up. Did have some dye transfer on lighter colored handle material (elk and camel bone) at 400 grit but nothing the regular Merit green 600 grits didn't take off in the next step anyhoo. Interestingly no transfer at 220 grit.
Click to expand...
They are the brown ones. They are not as a flexible as Jflex and really slide into the plunge nicely.
 
REK Knives said:
The best roughing ones I've found for handles are from pops, the blue economy zirc ones. Iirc Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith likes them as well
Click to expand...
I agree I use those blue zirconium belts for all of my handles up to 120 grit before going to J-flex belts to polish the handles. I’ve found they last the longest out of anything else I’ve tried. Also I just saw that Pops has the new actirox belts on their site now.
 
Yes, I use a lot of blue zirc belts. When Pop's ( James Poplin) used to come to Harrisonburg, I would get 10 rolls (10 per roll) or so from him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top