Why does this happen?

C

claybuster5

Joined
Nov 18, 2012
Messages
54
Whenever I try to vertically grind the sides with my belt sander it doesn't grind the sides, it bevels the edges and I can't get to the middle.
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More than likely your platen is not flat and allows the belt to fold up around the blade,even with a good grinder and glass platen it still happens to some extent.
Stan
 
Your problem is why we recommend that the first 10 knives be hand filed and hand sanded. Using a sanding block of hardwood or metal will assure a flat bevel. When you move to a grinder, you will have a bit more idea of how a flat surface gets formed.

All the other advice about fine tuning the grinder is also important. What type of grinder and platen do you have?
 
Could be one of the ones above, or even a very dull belt or a lack of pressure of the knife on the belt. Frank
 
I'll bet he's got a 1 x 30. That's exactly how my blades looked before I finally got mine tuned up a bit. I a;so think DHIII nailed it. The belt is set to far away from the flimsy 1/16th steel platen.

Just my guess........

-Peter
 
I don't know if I'm seeing it right, but it looks like you hardly touched it to the belt. Gotta lean in there a little bit and sooner or later you'll get to more of it. I think the folks are right though. You might end up needing to fiddle with the grinder some to get it just right, but you can probably practice with how it is now.

Good luck with it, Craig
 
I have had similar issues but eventually realized, through the use of a caliper, that the steel bar stock is often somewhat concave on both sides, meaning thicker at both edges. I thought it was beveling the edges as well until i measured it and realized that until some steel was removed from the sides the belt couldn't touch the center anyway. I hope what i am trying to communicate here gets across.
 
Don't assume the steel is flat. Color it with a sharpie on both sides. Take you steel to a glass surface (Flat surface) and sand the sides and see where the sand paper removes the sharpie. It will remove the high spots first and leave the sharpie on the low spots. Sand it until it is completely level and the sharpie is equally remove as you sand.

Unless you got precision ground stock like 01 or A2 it probably is not flat.

Once you determine it is flat and the problem remains then check what everyone else has mentioned.
 
Claybuster,

As mentioned eirlier, are you using a 1x30? My harbor freight model did the same thing until I loosend the bolt that holds the tension swing arm. Once this pivot point was able to move freely, the belt tightened much better with the adjustment knob and I was able to tighten belts to remove the issue. Prior to this adjustment, I could not get the grinder to run non-harbor freight belts properly. Took about 3 belts and a couple pieces of mild steel to figure this out. HB belts seem a little smaller than others and the pivot arm is "too tight" for other belts.

Also, this goes w/o saying but... double check that your platten is tight to the back of the belt and fully 90 degrees to your table.

Good luck and remember, patience is the key to this hobby!
 
claybuster5 said:
It's not really a grinder it's just a harbor freight 1 x 30 belt sander.
Click to expand...

Aaaaaa HAAA!! I thought so. I have/had one that I used for years as my grinder. You can get it to work pretty well once you adjust the platen to the belt properly, and you can get a decent grind with a bit of practice.

-Peter
 
Yeah, I allready had to fix it as the belt was tight and not spinning as patrickknives reccommmended I took of the idler shell and cleaned and relubed it. Now it works perfect. I suspected there was more to do. Those Chinese people must not know how to assemble things right. Ha!
 
The Chinese know how to assemble things correctly. The problem is you're not paying them enough to care if they do it right or not.
They are capable of producing very high quality but they've realized it's easier to sell two cheap items than one expensive item. You get what you pay for.
I personally own a HF 1x30" sander and one of their larger metal bandsaws. I like their tools because I'm poor and don't mind tinkering with them to get them right.
 
Your sharpie marks on the tang portion are... interesting... lol:o

Set up that 1x30 and you'll be okay.
 
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