which of these compounds for 2x42 leather belt?

BryFry

BryFry

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I have a leather belt for my Craftsman 2x42 beltsander. I haven't used it yet, but thought I'd play around with convexing some edges on some cheep knives. (I've had great results convexing by hand with paper and strop, but I just want to see how well the 2x42 works.)

I already own a couple bars of black and green craftsman brand "buffing" compound for buffing wheels. These are hard chalky compounds made for high speed buffer wheels.

And I also own the much softer Bark River/knivesshipfree brand "stropping" compounds (black and green). These are softer, waxier compounds made for leather hand strops.

I realized there may be better choices out there, but I don't want to order more compounds right now. So of those four choices which would you suggest I use for my leather belt on a high speed sander??


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Do you want to convex the edge in one step with the belt? black is more aggressive but I have never tried to convex with compounds, just polish. For polishing try green.

I use my belt after about 6 stages of sharpening so it is just for that final polish, for that I like pink compound.

I'm no leather belt pro, I have only recently been using one.
 
Daniel Fairly Knives said:
Do you want to convex the edge in one step with the belt? black is more aggressive but I have never tried to convex with compounds, just polish. For polishing try green.

I use my belt after about 6 stages of sharpening so it is just for that final polish, for that I like pink compound.

I'm no leather belt pro, I have only recently been using one.
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No, I didn't mean I would do the whole reprofile with the belt. Just use it as the last step on my machine.

I'm kind of wondering if the buffer compound would be better, since it's a fast moving belt. Or if the stropping compound would be better, since it's leather??

Then I would need to dicide between the green or black, I guess.
 
I'm not sure which type would better on the leather but I'd go with green for the last polishing.
 
I use white on my leather belt and the final polished edge is pretty dang polished.
 
I only use my leather belt for the final polish on my edges. Before that, I progress down from a 120 grit all the way to a 9 micron polishing belt. I know the green compound is supposed to be even finer, but the white is what I have and all I seemingly need.
 
Daniel Fairly Knives said:
I'm not sure which type would better on the leather but I'd go with green for the last polishing.
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Just to be clear I don't think the green is a finishing point but given the choice between green and black, I'd use the green. The green will give it a great looking shine if you have progressed through the grits on the way up to it.

I was thinking and I have used waxy and drier compound, they both seem to work well. The waxy seems to stay on the belt better but the dry works just as well from my very limited experience.
 
Any compound that has chromium oxide in it will round an edge smooth which will make a great slicer but poor push cutter. If you want a proper deburred edge that still has some grab and looks pretty use white as a last one pass step. Precede with black while pulling the burr off and a quick swipe across the white. I used to preach green but it's not the best edge for most anything besides slice cutting soft materials.
 
Oh and I should mention that not all buffing compounds are equal when it comes to edge quality. The best white for edges that I've found is Matchless even though I prefer Jantz's own white for polish work. Shinier don't mean sharper. :)
 
Bryfry,

Theres a great video on youtube about sharpening with a belt grinder. Do a search and you'll find it. I think they recommend using white.

To sharpen on my 2x42 I start with a 240 grit, then 400, 800. I finish it off by hand with a ceramic sharpener to take the burr off. I'm curious how you like using the leather belt on the 2x42, I was planning on getting one soon.
 
Thanks for the info guys, I haven't tried the belt yet, but will likely give it a shot this weekend.

I may give the green stropping stuff a try, though it sounds like I may have to order some white, and another belt sometime!
 
DaveMartell said:
Any compound that has chromium oxide in it will round an edge smooth which will make a great slicer but poor push cutter. If you want a proper deburred edge that still has some grab and looks pretty use white as a last one pass step. Precede with black while pulling the burr off and a quick swipe across the white. I used to preach green but it's not the best edge for most anything besides slice cutting soft materials.
Click to expand...

I have to try that! I have noticed I get a better edge going straight to pink compound which is based off of white from what I understand.
 
Oh yeah, remember, leather belts are dangerous! Be really careful, if the tip catches it will flip around on you very quickly.
 
Digging up this thread , I have a surgi-sharp 1x42 running on a 2x42 which isn't really working out that well. Their site says they sell it in 2x42 but I'm not buying anymore belts until I have my new grinder. I have green waxy buff and rouge and white chalky stuff. Do you guys use the rough side with compound with the edge down or the smooth side of the leather belt and does anyone have experience with cork belts ? You have to break them in first right, do you add compound to 400/600 or just the plain cork belt? This goes for sharpening and I'm curious to polishing with leather and cork I've read 10 different views and would like to here how you polish and sharpen with leather and cork.
 
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