Guess who got a GREAT deal on a belt sander?

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/

Way to shop Andy! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

What a nice score

Way to go

Dan

Thanks everyone! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Awesome deal Andy. Congrats. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Congrats on the great deal! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Good things come the way of good people....good for you! This is my Lap Dog post! Thanks Andy.

Since you'll be paying more for belts than you did the sander, I've got a few belt's from Pop's I'll send you so you can try them out without expense. I'll need an address to send to.

Nice score mate. Welcome to the land of quick sharpening and the temptation to mod or make knives.

Two tips I got told are:

1) Get some cheap trash knives and practice sharpening or modding on them, saves wrecking a good knife.
2) If you have a flat platen behind the belt you can stick a decent thickness of leather to it (think a sturdy belt or strop). Then when you press against it while sharpening it controls the amount of convexing you do.

Good luck and get posting some pics when you're ready.