I, like the originator of this post, am a green pea at the forge and knife-making. I have made several RR spike knives to a rough finish, but am now looking at taking the next step to finishing them. I have read that the best way is via belt sander, but several sites have mentioned that there is a vast difference in belt sanders for wood vs. metals. I am doing this on a budget (well, frankly, I'm just a miser) and don't want to spend hundreds on a sander. SO I have a few questions to throw out:
1.) How can I tell sanders designed for wood versus metal?
2.) Does anyone have one they can recommend as a decent unit that won't break the bank?
3.) Is there any merit to the combination unit with the side disc? Is that a valuable feature, or something I could just as easily skip?
4.) Lastly, for a benchtop unit, what do you feel is the best belt size for knifing?
By the way, I am also located in SW MN, in case "/Y" happens to see this.
/Y wont see it, according to the site logs, he has not returned since posting this.