Belts

Wayne Coe

Wayne Coe

Forum Owner - Moderator
I have been needing to order some belts for my grinder. I have always bought the cheapest that I could find and felt that they worked just fine. I had been paying about $1.50 each. I had been told to buy the blue belts for about $4.00 each. One was sent with my last order and I was told to try it, it will out last 4 of these others. It didn't. I have never seen any good comprehensive information about abrasives or grits. I only was advised, "Try these more expensive belts, you'll like 'em."

Well, tonight I decided to look at USAKnifemaker.com to price belts. When I clicked on "Abrasives", then "Abrasive Belts" the first item was, "-- Abrasive Belt Basics - What kind should I buy?" That is the best information that I have ever seen on this subject and it had been right there all the time, if I had just looked. Everyone should print this out and study it. OPPS, I just went back to the page and saw: "Appendix E – Abrasive Belt Basics - Excerpt from No Weld Grinder Plans All rights reserved – Do not copy or transmit – Copyright 2009 Tracy Mickley

Revised 3/2009

So, don't print them out, but study them.

I feel so dumb. I've had the NWG plans since June and had read everything in them. My mind just was not in gear to learn about belts then.

Thanks for the info Tracy.
 
ETA: Big +1 on the Blaze belts, well worth the extra money.

I agree with you Wayne. Not only the time it took for Tracy to give info on specific belts...most of the products on the site have a brief sometimes detailed description. Tracy took a lot of time to put that info together!

As a newb its nice to see and hear what a product will do .

2thumbs for the Boss:D
 
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You guys are right. I learned more about knife making products from the USAKnifemakers.com site in a short time than most of the other stuff I've read over the years. Thank you Tracy for all you have contributed to the knife making community.
It's been my experience that most of the more expensive belts do last longer. Tracy explains, on his site, how to get more life out of them after they seem to be worn out.
Larry
 
The orange belts will cut forever.
Definately worth the extra cost. I wish there was a cheaper alternative to the yellow j flex belts. They are good for about one handle.
 
thanks guys. that is exactly what I am trying to bring to the table.... a little extra value.

Shankmaker, the yellow jflex do have short lives. Try the new Jweight's I just got in. You can see them here: http://www.usaknifemaker.com/store/abrasives-abrasive-belts-c-94_42.html
they will out last the yellow ones.

as for printing out the reference file on belts, go ahead. I put the copyright on there just so someone doesn't try to charge some one for the information.
 
BossDog said:
thanks guys. that is exactly what I am trying to bring to the table.... a little extra value.

Shankmaker, the yellow jflex do have short lives. Try the new Jweight's I just got in. You can see them here: http://www.usaknifemaker.com/store/abrasives-abrasive-belts-c-94_42.html
they will out last the yellow ones.

as for printing out the reference file on belts, go ahead. I put the copyright on there just so someone doesn't try to charge some one for the information.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tracy....I will give them a try.2thumbs
 
The 40 grit Blaze are unreal. I tapered the tang on 12 CPM 3V blades last night with one belt, that included hollow grinding the tang first. It still has plently of cut left in it too.
-John
 
I agree the blaze orange are the best steel grinding belt but not the only belt. You need structured abrasive belts to for finishing and belts for handles. There is no one belt does all in knife making . I do like the zirconia belts for handles but burn light woods like maple and beech and ash and so on. But on oily woods they kick butt.
 
When I built my NWG almost 2 years ago the first thing I did was call Tracy and have a hour long discussion on belts.

I started out with the orange blaze belts and have never found a belt I like better. and I'm pretty sure I've tried them all.

the closest are the Cubitron belts from Pop's, their good, but they don't cut as aggressively and the don't last quite as long (the way I use em at least).

I stopped using yellow JFlex belts for blade grinding because I found that if you put any pressure on the platen you won't get a flat grind, which can be VERY annoying


My current belt list goes like this

blade:
40g blaze, 80g blaze, 400g (65x) Norax, 600g Cork, 800g Cork
If I were so inclined I could just about mirror buff straight off the grinder

Handle
36g cheap AO belt (usually takes at least one belt per handle) 80g JFlex, 220g JFlex
Finish from there by hand
 
StephanFowler said:
My current belt list goes like this

blade:
40g blaze, 80g blaze, 400g (65x) Norax, 600g Cork, 800g Cork
If I were so inclined I could just about mirror buff straight off the grinder

Handle
36g cheap AO belt (usually takes at least one belt per handle) 80g JFlex, 220g JFlex
Finish from there by hand
Click to expand...

Now this is great information for a noob like me. Thanks so much. I am just trying to figure out basics and getting too deep into belts right now is just adding to the confusion. Being handed this now and revisiting the details once I have a few knives under my belt seems to be good plan.

If you don't mind me asking what do you do for the hand finish?
 
torqueman said:
Now this is great information for a noob like me. Thanks so much. I am just trying to figure out basics and getting too deep into belts right now is just adding to the confusion. Being handed this now and revisiting the details once I have a few knives under my belt seems to be good plan.

If you don't mind me asking what do you do for the hand finish?
Click to expand...

For the blade finish see this thread, I do most all of my blades like this:

http://www.knifedogs.com/showthread.php?t=1710

For the Handle I grind it to shape with the 36, clean it up with the 80, and then 220

then I just go at it with Klingspor sheet abrasives (the white ones with the "Stearite" additive) using a variety of sanding blocks or a "shoe shine" method
 
Stephan Im glad you replied cuzz on light color woods I have trouble with making the handle stained from the black paper I use. I will contact klinspor soon . I like the J flex belts on handles but clog up fast. I use blaze orange for my initial grinds up to 220 then switch to my finishing belts in a structured abrasive up to 3000 grit . They now come out so nice I dont know if I need to polish on the buffer. I just got the x5 belt so Ill know soon what ive gotta do.
 
Somebody tell me why the blaze belts don't work near as good for me as the yellow 3Ms do? I've gone with at least four trial runs to see if there would be a benefit in either their ability to last longer or give a better cut. They have not done that. I found that the 36 grit blaze belts cut like the 60s of 3M. I did try the pushing harder and the going over the moving belt with a file to refresh it. Hey I'm pleased with the 3M product and I believe they work well for me and better for sure than those red Nortons. Frank.
 
Is this worth a bump?

I'm a bit confused with all the differnet types again! :lol: Where's trizact fitting in?
 
Just read that tutorial as I am.. well was belt illiterate. Thanks for letting us know it was there.. I've skimmed over it numerous times. Now I know what I need.
Cheers!
 
Frank Niro said:
Somebody tell me why the blaze belts don't work near as good for me as the yellow 3Ms do? I've gone with at least four trial runs to see if there would be a benefit in either their ability to last longer or give a better cut. They have not done that. I found that the 36 grit blaze belts cut like the 60s of 3M. I did try the pushing harder and the going over the moving belt with a file to refresh it. Hey I'm pleased with the 3M product and I believe they work well for me and better for sure than those red Nortons. Frank.
Click to expand...

I tried the blaze belts in 36 or 40 grit for a while; they seemed to cut really well for a while, I know they liked to grab the steel which I didn't care for. I also went back to the 3m belts and now use the 984f series belt in 36 and 60 grit. I've use them for 6 months and believe them to be the best cutting and longest cutting belt I've used.
It seems a lot about the choice has to do with grinding style.

Fred
 
I finally got to try out the 984's I got from Tracy, 36 and 60 grit. Definitely liking them. I haven't used them up so I can't comment on longevity, but so far they seem to be holding up well. I completely ground one 6" bladed knife including some profiling work. 90% of that was on the 984's and they're both acting like they're just past the brand new stage rather than remotely worn. That's slightly better than the 967 and 977's, which lasted better than the coarse zirc and 965 ceramics I was using on my 2x42.

I just wish they weren't so darned expensive. They're basically the most expensive option around. Pops has the lowest price if you're not buying volume and it still stings. Going to check pricing did point out something very cool. Tracy's got gators all the way down to A5. I know what will be in MY next order.

My usual routine is 36, 60, 120 flex to remove most of the 60 grit lines and pretty up the plunge, A100 down to A30 gators. I'm thinking about making that A160 since I think it is actually slower and winds up costing more time and money to make the leap. If I spent more time with the 120 grit it'd be different, but even the 707JE's wear fast comparatively so I'd rather just use them for what they're best at then use a gator for the rest. After heat treat I start back with the 120 flex, mostly cleaning out the plunge line and a quick run over the rest. Then through the gators and on to whatever final finish I desire. I'm using 1084 so ht cleanup involves removing a touch of decarb along with any residual scale that the vinegar hasn't dealt with..
 
Fred Rowe said:
I tried the blaze belts in 36 or 40 grit for a while; they seemed to cut really well for a while, I know they liked to grab the steel which I didn't care for. I also went back to the 3m belts and now use the 984f series belt in 36 and 60 grit. I've use them for 6 months and believe them to be the best cutting and longest cutting belt I've used.
It seems a lot about the choice has to do with grinding style.

Fred
Click to expand...


Yep, when I first tried out the Cubitron II belts I called up Tracy immediately to get him to start stocking them (at the time POPS was the only place to get em)

I've moved to nothing but Cubitron II belts for anything steel. I like em that much.

of course now I come off the grinder at 80 grit and go to a disk with klingspor paper
120,220,400 - hand sand
 
I have to add to my previous comment on the 984's. I used the same two belts to profile and grind another version of the same knife. Slightly longer blade, smaller handle. This time I did the bevels post heat treating. Both belts are STILL useable and on my wall for the next knife. I'm not experienced with post heat treat grinding other than finishing work, but I really didn't expect the belts to be worth saving for anything other than profiling work. We're talking about two small chef's knives essentially, one 6 inch blade from 3/16" 1080, one nearly 7" from 1/8" 1084 with the larger being ground once hardened. For me, that's outstanding. I'd expect to get two unhardened blades from the belts, maybe even a third if they didn't involve quite so much metal. It really makes the cost per belt worthwhile even if all I get from them after this is one small knife and some profiling.
 
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