New member from Montana

B

brdobson

New Member
Hello my name is Brian and am new to this forum. I am a self taught knife maker for about eight years now and am sure have many bad habits. I have a variable speed Wilton Square Wheel Grinder 2x72 belts.I am curious what mfg. and what grit belts other folks use in making of their knives. Also what speed you grind at.

Thanks for any input.

BD
 
Hello, and welcome to KD.

I do my stock removal with ceramic belts. There are many kinds and some work better then others You can check Montana knife supply. Hes local for ya and a great guy to deal with! I also recommend Gators by 3-m. these are great belts to refine the scratch pattern as you are cleaning up from the stock removal.

There are a few threads if you use the search bar that will guide ya more.

Have fun and stay safe
Randy
 
I use Norton abrasives almost exclusively. Orange Ceramic Blaze and Grey Norax. Grits on the heavy Blaze vary between 40-50-60 depending on what's in stock, they all perform roughly the same and will strip the grit at first if you're profiling. I go to a Blaze 100 at times, or skip directly to a 100x (220 grit) micron Norax, then 45x, 15x, then a worn 15x with white compound on it. I hand sand with 220 through 2000 grits with the black wet/dry Ali-gator grit paper from ACE currently although there are better choices for that. For a satin finish I like a non-woven scotchbrite type belt from various manufacturers, usaknifemaker.com has all the stuff you'll need in a single stop. As for speed, I have the 3 speed pulley KMG and run it wide open at times, medium speed for things that will burn, and on the lowest for fragile handle materials.
 
Thanks for the info Frank I will be trying this out. Wouldn't mind stopping by sometime to look at your operation next time I go through Lewistown.

Thanks Again,

Brian
 
Welcome aboard. I started out on a square wheel, they didn't make variable speed back then. Profile and grind at MAC 5, finish grind slower….you'll figure it out…best to go visit someone and have them show you…..you'll save time and money. For Belts check out Pop's Knifemaking Supplies. James Poplin is a great guy and treats people right! He has an off brand belt that a lot of us use in 36 and 60 grit that only runs couple $'s each. They don't last long but for the money they work just fine. I use them to profile and taper tangs……when you're doing large #'s you'll save $'s in the long run.


John I.
 
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