So I have been "playing" with the new grinder and belts. I was a little unhappy with the SG Blaze Ceramic I got, a section of the belt is significantly thinner causing tracking problems. The leather belt I have been trying out seems to run rough too but it does track decently.
I have some questions for the old hands:
1) Are there specific advantages/disadvantages to 1" vs 2" belts. My sander can use either. Obviously the 1' belts cost a little less and the 2" belts being twice as wide would have to remove a little more metal assuming one is pulling the length of the blade across the width of the belt.
2) I can not find information on how to load buffing compounds on leather belts. I started out with Green compound, cranked the sander up with the rough side of the belt out applying compound as the belt turned. I thought I would apply the finer pink compound I bought to the smooth side of my other leather belt.
3) Some of my belts, particularly the leather one, seem to work better with one side to the inside of the grinder. Is there a correct way to put belts on? Does it help to switch which side is in & out?
4) How much wabble is "normal" on a belt? The 3M Trizact "Gator" belts seem to track much better than any of the other belts. I know others have mentioned how well the Gators track above, maybe they are just spoiling me?
5) In the video I was watching the demonstrator has no platen on his Kalamazoo sander. He is demonstrating a convex sharpening grind so this makes sense. I am just wondering if most people do their sharpening without a platen. Maybe the platen is reserved for things that one wants flat ground? I removed both the platen and large tool rest from my sander and just put a small "tool stop" type rest on, much like a Kalamazoo has.
My favorite belt so far is the 3M Trizact 240 grit "Gator" belt. Since the 400 grit Gators were on back order I have not had the opportunity to compare them. The 400 may become my favorite. The 240 Gator removes a little more metal than I would like for convex edge sharpening. I have had to go from the Gator 240 to green compound on the rough side of a leather belt since I have no smaller grit belts yet. I plan to call Tru Grit today and get something shipped with a finer grit. I think I would like to have several belts in the 400-1000 grit range.
I found some interesting information on the 3M Trizact "Gator" belts:
PDF for "Gator" belts
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?66666UuZjcFSLXTtoxTEoXz6EVuQEcuZgVs6EVs6E666666--Links to PDF for 3M belts
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en...Fbe060CVBK1Q8glAgain, thanks for the suggestions,
Mick
