How Long Do You Use a Grinder Belt?

[CDHumiston]

I'm curious as to how long knife makers use their belts.

I've noticed I have quite a few belts hanging around that may be past their prime.

Generally, when a belt is dead for working steel, I keep it around for a while to work wood and plastics.

I'd love to hear from other makers on their practices...

 

[Edwardshandmadeknives]

I seem to be unable to part with the things, so I hang onto them for quite some time. When they don’t work for grinding, I use them for cleaning up forgings and stuff like that. When I’m grinding blades, I usually switch them pretty often, so they aren’t really “worn out”. A new 36 gets used for roughing, then I switch to 120, then it’s hand sanding after that. Each grit change is a brand new belt.

 

[opaul]

IF….. I could afford it I’d use a new belt for each grind. What’s that saying? Use them like they are free; good advise but not practical for me financially.
I tend to use the coarser grits multiple times and then less as it gets to the finer grits. A brand new 120 or 150 grit belt is joy to use. I can definitely tell a difference if I try to use a belt of that grit that’s past it’s cutting ability- grinds uneven and heat.
Like you said used belts have there place for other applications- wood and fittings.
I like to rip finer grit belts into strips and use them shoe shine motion while sanding scales.

 

[Chris Railey]

I treat them like tires...I use them until they are good for nothing else. That being said, I have learned the hard way not to use worn belts when you get close to final edge because they create more heat and I have burned a couple edges that way.

 

[opaul]

I treat them like tires...I use them until they are good for nothing else. That being said, I have learned the hard way not to use worn belts when you get close to final edge because they create more heat and I have burned a couple edges that way.

Chris, Chris, Chris.

 

[chrisstaniar]

I am a belt hoarder, especially with the norax belts.

 

[KenH]

I find wood needs sharper belts than steel. Old belts are used for general grinding, profiling, etc. New sharp belts for final bevels and grinding wood.

 

[Edwardshandmadeknives]

I treat them like tires...I use them until they are good for nothing else. That being said, I have learned the hard way not to use worn belts when you get close to final edge because they create more heat and I have burned a couple edges that way.

Thought I would try that today. The darn things don’t fit on my truck. Guess I’m gonna have to get bigger wheels. Traction on ice is going to be great though!

 

[Taz575]

My Norax Ceramics and Trizact Gators and ceramics last a long time. I go thru a lot of 60, 80 and 120 grit belts and I try to toss them when they stop cutting well or use them when cleaning up hidden tang shoulders, profile clean up, etc. The 36 and 50 grit get put on Heavy Profiling duty when they stop cutting bevels as cleanly. If I use a belt on a crazy steel, like hardened S90V, I use them on other steels when they start not cutting well on hardened S90V and get a good bit more life out of them that way. Slowing down the grinder also seems to help with belt life when they are new and getting broken in. I have also found that worn ceramics do not work very well on handle materials! AO belts are fairly inexpensive, so I try to use good ones. I go from 36 to 60 or 80 grit for AO to the handle finishing belts (see below)

The Pops 2" Scalloped Super Nova AO belts are freaking amazing. I use a coarse 36 and 80 stiff regular AO belt to rough out handles, but go from 120 to 600 on the Pops Scalloped SN AO belts. I have broken a few (my fault totally!), but they last a VERY long time! I think my 320, 400 and 600 have over 30 handles on them easily, including my own home made fabric/epoxy handles, stabilized woods, micartas, G10, SureTouch, AmeraGrip, etc. The 120 and 220 I broke a while back trying to use them to clean up plunges, but they were still going strong on handles like the other grits are when I broke and replaced them! I ordered a new set from Pops a few months ago and haven't even had to bring them out yet!

 

[opaul]

“The Pops 2" Scalloped Super Nova AO belts are freaking amazing. I use a coarse 36 and 80 stiff regular AO belt to rough out handles,”

You really need to (or I do) be careful with the 1” and 2” scallop belts. They can get out of hand before you realize how much they are cutting.

 

[Taz575]

The 1" ones I think do this more because the pressure is over less area. The 2" ones spread the pressure out more, but it is still easy to over do it if you aren't careful! I've been using them for I think over a year now and learned to use a very light touch, especially when they are new! As they get worn down a bit, they tend to mellow out and do more polishing, especially at the higher grits! I did 5 fillet knife handles in SureTouch from the rough cut slabs epoxied onto the full tang to a clean 400 belt finish in less than 90 minutes. I've timed a few other handles from oversized scales epoxied onto the tang to done shaping to 400 or 600 grit and it's about 15-20 minutes average. G Carta and some of my home made micarta takes a little longer (and I do more hand sanding so I don't burn the material, fill in gaps with CA glue, etc), but it's still pretty fast!

I used to use the Klingspor Yellow J Flex and Scalloped J Flex belts and found they didn't last as long and the scallops were deeper, so the belt was more like the 1" version.

I get everything profiled close to the tang with the 36 and start roughing in the dips/contours with the 36 and clean up with the 80 to get everything even on contact wheels. I knock down the corners a bit with the 80 (usually on a flat surface). Then I go to 120 Super Novas, break the sharp corners on the handle and start removing the coarser scratches and get the contouring blended. I will often work on a slack belt area right above or below a contact wheel so there is less cupping of the belt, especially if the surface isn't as curved. I also hold the handle horizontally and move it back and forth horizontally and wiggle it vertically to get into the different contours better. Deep scratches love to hide at the bottom on contouring! 220 shows me if I have any 36 or 80 grit scratches left and I go to areas with less tension/more cupping to smooth everything out and from there, it's refining the finish of the handle. My 120 and 220 have seen prob 15+ handles and are still pretty aggressive cutters! I always try to keep the handle moving on the belt because if I linger, where there is more pressure cuts differently! Light pressure and keeping the handle moving really helps with this!