Thread: Belt sander question

Ilija,

This is what I try to avoid when I restore a blade. In order to even it out you have to remove the same amount of metal everywhere else. Not just on the spine but the rest of the blade too.

This is practically impossible. This is why I prefer to go slower and remove metal evenly. If there is a pit that is much deeper than the rest I may opt out to just leave it in once it has been sufficiently reduced rather than remove too much metal everywhere else.

It is best to ignore the pitting and concentrate on even sanding. Once in a while check the pitting to see if you need to keep going. Other than that ignore the pitting. Trying to give more attention to the spots that have more pitting does nothing but make the blade uneven.

I would say leave the unevenness as is or you chance ruining the blade altogether. A little dip on the spine won't affect honing. A thinned out spine will.

Thanks Vlad... And gradual work with the 120 grit flap should even it out as well b/c I make sure I go over the whole blade evenly when I get to that stage.

Ilija, I have used the Craftsman belt sander, first link below, on three scales and the sander works pretty well if you are careful. As Vlad mentioned it will remove wood pretty quickly. I used 120 grit paper and now have 220. The unit uses 3X21 belts and runs at 394 to 820 ft./ min. I don't know what that is in RPM but it is pretty slow at the slowest speed. Since it has a three position handle I can run the sander upside down and lock the trigger and set the speed that I want and form the scales. I have thought about using it to grind blades but have not done so and am thinking that I may not because of the 3" belt which would be hard to do a blade that is near or less than 3". The flap wheels and Vlads sanding discs seem to be better.

Since them I have bought a Delta belt/disc sander, second link below, which is pretty cool. With this baby you can sand your scales vary nicely as it has a 1" belt and runs fairly slow and also do some minor work on your blades. You can get belts up to 330 grit. There is a pulley on the top of this unit that I have looked over and thought that maybe this may work to do some blade work haven't tried it yet. Bill Ellis actually has one of these. I call this unit my "Burr King" LOL.


http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...seBVCookie=Yes

http://www.deltamachinery.com/index.asp?e=136&p=835