Thread: Mastro Livi's belts and wheels

Anyone else notice that all of Mastro Livi's belts and wheels turn the opposite direction from what I think of as normal? Anyone else use your abrasives that way. I have one belt that I use that way to set an initial bevel after heat treating.

I watched the vid of him making that monster, but I didn't catch what you're asking about.

My belt grinder throws sparks at my feet. When I get my DC motor running and rigged, I'll be able to throw sparks in the air too as it will be reversible.

Originally Posted by Wullie

My belt grinder throws sparks at my feet.

All of his abrasives turn the opposite way. I noticed this in other video's of his also.

Yep, he grinds with the edge up and sparks flying away from him. If his blade snagged, it wouldn't get thrown at him.

Never ground a razor. Made a lot of knives and I always ground with the edge up until I got to the point it was about sharp enough to start cutting the belt. Always found it easier to keep the sides even if I was watching the edge centerline.

I'm also interested in those belts he used for final polish. Looks like they had some kind of compound on them.

I haven't bought a belt since '87 so I hope there has been some improvement in what's available.

come on guys, give me a link

I sometimes grind edge up as well, but still keep the belt running towards my feet. Contrary to what you might think, the razor never snags. Sometimes it is easier to grind this way. I used to grind with the belt running away from me, like Mastro Livi apparently does. This works just as well, but the problem I had with that was that the grit flies all over the workshop really bad. With the belt running towards me, most of the grit flies in the waterbucket just underneath. Given the amount of dirt that accumulates there, the other way of grinding literally spreads pounds of metal dust all over the place.

Only that you brought this up and I have watched many of his video's and thinking about it logically it does make more sense to me as you can see the edge and this is always a good idea in my minds eye.

Most of his grinding is on water cooled wheels so I guess this takes a lot of dust with it. I also noted that his grinders are hooded which will contain most airborne stuff.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

come on guys, give me a link

I use "reversed" motors on my grinders/polishers with hoods as well. With water wheels it keeps you from getting soaked. It is also easier on your neck because you are not constantly staring down you are mostly just staring forward. For the dry polishers I have a vacuum system to suck the dust out of the hood.
As for snags, even on the "reversed" ones, if it snags it bounces off of the hood and then comes right back at you. Been there, done that, have the scars to prove it.