I finally bit the bullet and ordered my first 2x72 Grinder.  I am getting ready to place my first order for belts and this is the list of belts I was thinking of.  I would like to get some other opinions and see if anyone has any thoughts about additions or subtractions I should make.  

 

Quantity	Manufacturer	Part #	Grit	Weight	Description
3	VSM	AK890Y	36	Y	Actirox Ceramic
10	VSM	60 XK885Y	60	Y	Ceramic +
6	VSM	80 XK885Y	80	Y	Ceramic +
6	VSM	120 XK885Y	120	Y	Ceramic +
4	3M	180 A100CF 337DC	180	X	Trizact Aluminum Oxide
4	3M	240 347FC A65CF	240	X	Trizact Aluminum Oxide
4	3M	400 A45CF 337DC	400	X	Trizact Aluminum Oxide
4	3M	80 726A	80	J	Cubitron II Ceramic Blend
4	Klingspor	120 LS312JF	120	J	Aluminum Oxide
4	Klingspor	240 LS312JF	240	J	Aluminum Oxide
4	Klingspor	400 LS312JF	400	J	Aluminum Oxide
4	Klingspor	600 KL361JF	600	J	Aluminum Oxide
1	3M	2 x 72-SB AMED	Medium	Low Stretch	Scotch-Brite Aluminum Oxide - Maroon
1	3M	2 x 72-SB AVFN	Very Fine	Low Stretch	Scotch-Brite Aluminum Oxide - Blue

you dont need all those grits, doubling each step is plenty,  this is just wasting your money for example 60, 120 240 400 800, see 

 

I ordered an assortment of belts when built my (very basic) grinder.  All I use now is 60 grit belts and 400 grit Triact belts.  The Trizact cuts fast enough that even 60 seconds for an additional belt change feels like a waste of time.  Of course, I'm not making knives or finish sanding large batches of parts -- an intermediate grit or two might make more sense in that case.

Howdy:

Well I am a chea---ummm no... um frugal..yeah that's it FRUGAL old man...I grind with a 40 grit..go to 240 grit and then to buff with black emery on a sisal wheel using an oil slurry and I get a very nice semi-gloss finish which is more that adequate for high carbon steels..no sense in putting a full on mirror on something that will change color if anything funky is cut like fruits, cheese etc,.,,,

As far as belts themselves I get the least expensive as I can cause I tried the more costly ones and the performance difference between the two wasn't worth it to me.. I burn through 2 40 grit belts per sword.. I get like 5 or 6 smaller blades per belt as well...then again I use my Frankengrinder which is a beast as it is a 5 HP twin drive belt and it is running at 7200 SFM on a 14" serrated wheel and that does help with the life of the belt..

 

JPH

Speed control on the Frankengrinder, Jim?

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty: No...don't want/need one...when I grind (which I hate doing)  I want t off NOW...

 

JPH

I'm curious if you (or anyone else reading this thread) have tried the 'belt butter' or 'grease stick' marketed for sanding belts which supposedly extend the life of your belt.

We have that in common too Jim. Needing to turn the grinder speed down means the operator needs instruction and practice.  

I've never heard of "belt butter" but it's an almost irresistible straight line. I don't need a message from the mods so. . . 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Frosty... rofl.  belt butter...heh heh heh  I got ya there brother...

I was tutored by one of the all time great knife grinders..the late Bob Engnath..that man was a grinder god..  JPH

I'm not familiar with the name so looked him up. Looks like we were almost neighbors till we both got smart and left Cal. 

I haven't done enough blade grinding to get very good, competent would be a brag. My thing is / was grinding cutting tools, Dad taught me to sharpen drill bits and lathe tools when I was a kid and he was a perfectionist so . . . I'm pretty good. Or was, lack of practice, old eyes and all that.) Anymore all I do is sharpen the occasional drill bit. 

Jer

Frosty: Bob Engnath. as great a blade grinder that he was was.... is a man whom I will say  was the best traditional scrimshander in the world when he was alive..His attention to detail was amazing and most of his work looked like a black and white photograph..I am proud to say that he was my best friend..He and his wife Stevie  were Godparents to my three children. I was heartbroken when I got that call from his Stevie saying that he passed peacefully in his sleep.. I lost a brother that day and my life was diminished, but I am a better man for knowing him.. 

JPH

Thanks Jim, his work easy to find on the web and looking at half a dozen examples I agree, his scrimshaw is as good as I've ever seen.

I had a friend, Leonard Savage who carved mostly ivory but most anything else too. His scrimshaw was exquisite though largely Inupiat and Athabascan but he was commissioned to scrimshaw portraits from old photographs more than once. He got in trouble with the elders when he did photographic scrimshaw pendant in color. 

Unfortunately Leonard died young of the ivory carver's asthma, probably a fibrosis.

If you really wanted to upset the Native Elders, point out that scrimshaw isn't "traditional" native Alaskan. It was adopted from sailors on whaling ships. Far as I know anyway, it's been practiced all over the world for some centuries, maybe millennia.

The pic below is one example of Mr. Engnath's scrimshaw.  

Frosty The Lucky.