Cork belts

CAJones

CAJones

Well-Known Member
I recently purchased my first cork belt and was curious about the break in.

I normally use trugrit but they don't carry cork belts in 2x42 so I found that supergrit does carry them. My question is that on the trugrit site they recommend at least a 10 minute break in but only 30 seconds on the supergrit site. Are the belts by the different companies a completely different product or should they be essentially the same?

Any recommendations or experience is appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris
 
I've used both. My break in is normally about 5 minutes. Until I feel no bumps against the piece of stock I'm using for the break in. Actual time varied base on that.
 
Cork belts are great. Been using them for years with or without buffing compound. Best break in I found was to push a cement brick into the belt. Tilt your work rest back a few degrees and use a crisp edge of the brick to evenly dress the belt. Takes minutes.

Rudy
 
Rudy Joly said:
Cork belts are great. Been using them for years with or without buffing compound. Best break in I found was to push a cement brick into the belt. Tilt your work rest back a few degrees and use a crisp edge of the brick to evenly dress the belt. Takes minutes.

Rudy
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Rudy,
Any kind of brick in particular? Red, Cinder?
 
Randy, Merry Christmas,
I go from 120 grit ceramic belts to a 220 cork, sometimes a 400 and dip my blades in water while doing the cork and put green chrome polish on the corks, then to scotchbrite belts for a nice brush satin finish.

When I was a noob I was sitting in the late Bob Loveless's shop watching his crew work and they went to cork at 220, 400, 800 with Green chrome to finish up all of there knives.

The advantage's are that the cork belts last a few years with out burning up a ton of A/O 220, 400, 600 & 800 belts and the money. The one possible disadvantage is that you start looking like a Martian, :47: but a good apron and face shield have solved that for me.
 
Laurence,
An actual 4x8 cement brick, they may be called 'pavers' in some parts of the country. I suppose a clean straight edge of a cement patio block would do the same thing. It breaks in my 600 and 1000 belts evenly and quickly with moderate pressure, don't try and stop the belt.

Randy,
My carbon blades go into HT at 320 grit with pbc, after HT I'll hit them starting at 320 AO then 400 AO. For a machine satin finish the corks come in after that. If dressed properly, they give a nice even consistent cut. A 1000 cork can give you a passable mirror polish with green buffing compound on it with a light touch. I find the corks work better for me on hollow grinds, flat grinds seem to take more work. Once the edges get thin and they do seem to go first, trim the belt or retire it or else you'll be chasing your finish all day.


Rudy
 
Sweet, I work masonry so surely I can source something there. I'm assuming a haydite brick or block piece with the square edge would work as well. Rudy, I have AO and gator belts to 600 and I picked up a 600 cork belt. Should I go all the way to 600 with the others before using the cork or jump to the 600 cork from the 400?

Randy, whether it works out for me or not, I'm trying to reduce and possibly even eliminate hand sanding on some projects. I also picked up a fine scotch brite and a felt polishing belt.

Thanks fellas,
Chris
 
Chris,
Yes, any cement type block with a sharp consistent edge...no large voids or you'll have gaps in your finish. Don't over think this. A common red brick will color the belt and probably make it useless. Personally I'd go all the way to 600 before using the cork. I consider the cork belt a surface refinement belt to get the final look of a satin finish. It takes so few passes and that's what makes the belts last so long. If you don't have more than one cork belt, DON'T apply buffing compound to it. The two are completely different looks, there's a learning curve to this as anything else. Out of everything I tried with all finish belts, belt TENSION seems to be the cure-all to many problems, especially with flat grinds. The tighter the better.

Sorry for the long diatribe, but some of these things make more sense when seen in person and may lose something in translation. These things work for me in my shop but you need to develop your own method. Since you mentioned the felt belt....be wary of that thing. Practice on something you're not going to display. These belts shine if everything you do is a convex, otherwise get to know each other intimately. They require a whole different feel and application, nice crisp edges and grind lines disappear real quick. I'm relieved mine broke after 8 years even though I was always tempted to use it with bad results.


Happy New Year,


Rudy
 
I've never used a cork belt but Bob Dozier told me several years ago that he breaks his cork belts in on a ceramic coffee cup.
 
HHH Knives said:
I have never tried cork belts. what are the advantages of them and or when are they used?
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A cork belt will give a great mirror shine and cut out a step or two of belts to get there.
Cork belts have a very uneven surface when new and will need the peaks knocked down or you get stray scratches. Press into it hard with a scrap piece of metal at full speed under heavy pressure for a few minutes. Once you have the high spots smoothed out, load it up (as best you can) with green chrome compound. It doesn't stick that well so you have to dress it often until you build it up a little. It will never completely coat the belt.
Take a knife to 120 grit and then switch to your cork. I've found a 400 grit works well for me but anywhere from 200 to 800 works also.
Be ready to walk out of the shop looking like a green man from mars if you are in for a long session.
 
I stopped trying to use buffing compound with the corks.
After getting a consistant finsh with the cork belt, a few LIGHT passes on the buffing wheel worked better but you need to know when to stop. Go too hard and long and you wind up with a shiny/dull blotchy finish.

Rudy
 
CAJones said:
Sweet, I work masonry so surely I can source something there. I'm assuming a haydite brick or block piece with the square edge would work as well. Rudy, I have AO and gator belts to 600 and I picked up a 600 cork belt. Should I go all the way to 600 with the others before using the cork or jump to the 600 cork from the 400?

Randy, whether it works out for me or not, I'm trying to reduce and possibly even eliminate hand sanding on some projects. I also picked up a fine scotch brite and a felt polishing belt.

Thanks fellas,
Chris
Click to expand...

Chris,
As you can tell by this time in the thread there a few different ways to finish with cork, Green chrome, no green chrome different progressions. The one thing I have found with switching to Scotchbrite after cork is to start with the Medium Maroon Scotch and then go to the fine so you make sure its all blended evenly from cork to scotch.
 
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