MotoMike Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Though not fully fleshed out yet, I am now getting excited . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfeile Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Going to one-up me aren't you? Can't wait to see it all together. I've been dealing with Tru-Grit for belts. Very reasonable and really fast shipping. And the ceramics are definitely worth it! I haven't tried the Blaze ceramics yet, but the other ones that they carry are great. I should have gotten more of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 thanks for that Shawn. been eyeballing potential vendors. One upping you not likely, haven't even forged a knife. I have a set of course belts coming to help me with the setting up of the machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 Not so oppressively hot today, so spent some time in the garage today working on the tracking wheel assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfeile Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Coming along nicely Mike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted June 28, 2018 Author Share Posted June 28, 2018 Thanks Shawn. going to steel mart tomorrow to nose around their cut offs for the idler wheel plate and platen parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudman Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Coming along! Looking forward to the finished project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted July 2, 2018 Author Share Posted July 2, 2018 Got the guide wheel plate, adjustable platen and tool rest built today. Should be welding it up soon. On 6/28/2018 at 3:19 AM, Mudman said: Coming along! Looking forward to the finished project. Thanks Mudman, me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfeile Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Making a knife next week then? That's actually coming along nicely Mike. Can't wait to see it up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted July 2, 2018 Author Share Posted July 2, 2018 Thanks Shawn, Me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 My advice... get 80 grit ceramic belts for your heaviest stock removal work. Coarser grits are LESS efficient! Set up where you can get a good access to a slack belt area... I do about 75 percent of my grinding on my slack belt space. The addition of a high quality buffer has made my work much simpler and superior in quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Bigfoot, Respectfully disagree with almost all of your post. Slack belt grinding is particularly inefficient as compared to grinding on a platten, if efficiency is your first goal. Also, it is only useful for grinding convex shapes, so unless you are only grinding convex crossection blades (for example) you can't get where you need, and the lack of a platen to push against means you can't take good advantage of ceramic belts (which remove more material per belt lifespan in my experience). In addition, with a spring or hydraulic tensioning system, belt tracking can become an issue for slack belt grinding as can damage to belt edges. As regards grit, by all means start with 60 or 80 grit as your first pass until you get familiar with grinding on a 2 x 72. Once you have things under control, 36 grit will definitely remove more material faster than a higher grit. Of course it also allows you to make mistakes faster, so I personally still tend to use 60 grit as a starting point. I suspect I don't have a "high quality buffer" setup at this point (I think, though I'm not completely sure what qualifies a buffer as high quality). In my experience a buffer is only used as a last pass on finishing and is only an improvement in quality if you are looking for a true mirror finish. For me, if I botch an earlier step (don't remove all 200 grit scratches when switching to 400 for example) the buffer will only hide it from a quick viewing. Probably need a better buffer... My suggestion is to look at Trizact structured adhesive belts for grits over 250 after you get up and running for a while. They seem to be a little resilient which works wonders for me. Expensive though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 36 grit running on a 10" dia serrated contact wheel will remove "stuff" scarily fast---including flesh and bone! You can go from "OOPS" to "AMBULANCE!" in fractions of a second! 36 grit running on a 10" dia serrated contact wheel will remove "stuff" scarily fast---including flesh and bone! You can go from "OOPS" to "AMBULANCE!" in fractions of a second! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 Thanks guys. I'm all ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudman Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 6 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: 36 grit running on a 10" dia serrated contact wheel will remove "stuff" scarily fast---including flesh and bone! You can go from "OOPS" to "AMBULANCE!" in fractions of a second! I'll have to agree with this. I use a 36 grit wheel when I'm in a rush, or looking to remove steel fast. Nortan Blaze belts are nothing short of terrifying. On really really hard woods that are also stabilized, it's really quick. It also helps you screw up faster too. For everyday removal (more or less) I've really started to like the Cubitron II 60+ belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuEulear Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Larger grits do remove stock and flesh much quicker than smaller grits i swiched from 36 grit blaze belts to 50 grit as a starting point as many of you have said it is eaiser to mess up quickly too. 50 seemes to be a nice comprimise between fast and controlable. Blaze belts are awesome but i really need to try other brands high quality buffet = 2x 72 cork belts from tru grit + some buffing compound best polishing media i have ever used Linnen buff works as that final step leather belts are nice too as it is quick to power strope 10 knives on tge grinder than doing it all by hand enjoy du Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted July 20, 2018 Author Share Posted July 20, 2018 Got it tacked down and squared. Mocked it up just to gander at it. I know my welding leaves room for improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Looking good. Nothing like a belt grinder for material removal. It's the most used tool in my shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 Thanks John. I hope it all works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 She's running! took a while to get the tracking set, but now it seems to be doing well. this is just to show it running. I have the platen too far from the belt in this shot. Now disassembled for painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 Hmm... much to consider in Latticino’s post! I find most of it in complete disagreement with my own experiences though. Let’s start with slack belt work. I vastly prefer slightly convex grinds to other types! I control the degree of convexity with pretty good precision by adjusting the pressure which I apply. My viewpoint is... “why grind a secondary or micro bevel, when I can do it all at once and have a smootherblade that slices more effectively?”. I do have a 10” contact wheel which is always available if I move off the slack belt area. I use this for heavy removal work but move to my slack belt for refining edges. BTW I usually use a bit more acute angle for my edges which allows the slightly convex bevels to present just the optimal angle right at the cutting edges! Now as to my buffer. I use my buffer as an integral part of my sharpening sequence. I remove the wire edges with my buffer and also polish the edges just enough... just enough to make them sharper and longer lasting than any other type of edge finish that I have tried! The one exception is to polish the edges with polishing stones to a mirrored surface. This takes days or even weeks... but the results are stunning! My buffed edges are very nearly as good with mere minutes invested! Because of the lower number of cutting edges, I find that for blade grinding, any grits beyond about 50 or 60 grit will actually slow my work significantly. If you do lots of grinding on annealed stock or mild steels you’ll find more use for coarser grits. All the work that coarser grits would do for me... I achieve by forging! I am really confident of this advice and use it regularly myself. If you disagree, well do it your own way... but here is gold if you want to pick it up! Joy of the forge to all of you! I’d buy a round if we were close enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 I can now say it is finished. Almost. still must affix a signature handle on the tracking pillar to compress the tension spring. But other than that, she's a runner. the tracking pillar does not fit the support tube tightly, so right now it has some plastic shims coated with graphite to keep it square. might do something to make that a more permanent and precise tolerance. Other than that it works fine. Already second guessing my choice of black as it really seems to collect the dust. Oh yeah, I still need to put the static draining brush on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Nice job on your grinder, you should be proud every time you put it to use :-) I know that I would be! On the large grit ceramics, they may not have worked well for Bigfoot specifically due to using the slack belt: his preferred technique works best with different abrasives. By definition you cannot apply as much pressure to a slack belt even on a rotary belt backed platen. Most ceramics require significant pressure, especially after a bit of wear, so that new sharp edges of the abrasive are exposed. They don’t work well on wood for this reason. They usually aren’t as friable as other abrasives. And yes to what folks said about 36 grit on especially serrated wheels with their concentrated pressure points, material will fly off, as will flesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 2 hours ago, stevomiller said: Nice job on your grinder, you should be proud every time you put it to use :-) I know that I would be! Thanks very much Stevo. I've already used it quite a bit and am wondering how I got by without it. It is so useful. In fact, I've not even truly finished it as I plan on a lever to slacken the belt for change. the plans called for a static discharge brush. will that cause the dust to not stick to is so much? Is it really needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 Since you are running non-conductive wheels it is likely that you will see a build up static electricity if it's not drained away. I've had it happen a little with aluminum wheels on some high grit belts with a soft kind of fuzzy backing. Not sure how that will affect the dust. To me it seems it gets everywhere in the general vicinity of the grinder no matter what I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.