Me. Yay! I was at Goodwill Friday and found one! It’s a Craftsman 1” x 42” ½ horsepower with 6” sanding disc. And the price? $25!!! Hoo-ha! What a deal! The last time the Harbor Freight one was on sale, I thought about buying it. I’m sure glad I didn’t! Now I’ll need some belts. Not looking forward to that part. That’s why I quit the mouse pad sandpaper thing, because it was too expensive to buy sandpaper that wore out so quick. I hope the belts last a while.

I’ve been using a Spyderco Sharpmaker to sharpen, but that’s a real pain when you have a knife that’s really dull and needs some major reprofiling. If nothing else, I guess I could profile with the sander and finish with the Sharpmaker. Anyone know any stores that might be local that would carry some belts that would fit this of a proper grit to give me something to try out before I order some finer belts?

Any suggestions on the grits I should buy? I want to get the most belt for the money. I already have some green compound; I know I’ll need a leather belt for that. I saw some of you recommended trugrit. Anyone else know of any other sites that are a better deal on belts? I imagine some grit belts will last longer than others, how many of the various grits do you think I should buy? I don’t know how long they last and how many I should buy. Thanks!

That's a steal at $25!! And 1/2 hp!! The delta is only 1/3. Great buy.

For the money I highly recommend Norton Norzon (60 grit for hogging steel, 80 grit for less hogging power, 120 grit for sharpening). At about $1.40 a belt, I'm only on my 2nd 60 and 80, and 1st 120 grit, and that's from knife making, modding, sharpening, etc. They also cut nice and cool.

I get mine from Lee Valley; http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48040&cat=1,43072

they are not easy to find on the site (2 places)

Big jobs like full convexing a saber grind large Busse can eat up some belts. While Lee Valley has some good ones, I found an outfit in Texas that makes their own belts and sells them at good prices. This has saved me some money lately, and I am quite pleased with the quality. Check these guys out, Andy.
Be sure to check out their Blue Zirconia belts in the courser grits when you need to reprofile or remove a lot of stock fast and cool.

https://www.econabrasives.com/products.php?id=205&size=1x42

Congrats on the belt sander Andy. Looks like your patience paid off!

Very nice score Andy. I had to rewire my Harbor Freight ghetto sander since the power switch went out. I am going to upgrade soon. I use the thing for so much more than just sharpening. I did not realize how much I used it until I did not have it for a week. Congrats man.

I like trugrit and Lee Valley. I prefer to get the coarser grits from truGrit and the finer grits and leather from Lee Valley. I would check out HD's recommendation as well. As far as grits go it depends on what you want to do with them? Stock removal? Reprofile/Regrind? Or just sharpen?

I found that the ceramic belts are awesome for re-profiling and stock removal. The zirconias aren't bad either but a little slower. For sharpening I just work my way from 120 up to 15 or 9 micron followed by leather - depending on the type of edge I want to put on the blade. If you prefer a rougher edge you could stop at 320 or something rougher even. The Norton Norzon belts are a good bang for the buck. Good luck!

Congrats on the great deal Andy!!!

I buy the rolls most of the time and make my own when I want a fine grit for polishing but for general re-sharpening I've had good luck with the Norton 120 grit belts and then hitting them with a 300 grit I made and finally a Lee Valley leather belt.
Absolutely shaving sharp EVERY TIME in just a matter of minutes.
I'm sure with the size of your collection, honing and sharpening probably feels like a full time job. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Now the real fun begins Andy

I will be interested to hear about your experiences and what you learn. I am in the market for a belt sander myself.

I bought this fella's set of belts for my Delta 1X30 and you will never find better.

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/817296/fromsearch/1/hl/rising/tp/2/