Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmontg
Like you were talking about using finer grits on your belt grinder, but finer grit belts don't last for very long before they're clogged up and/or worn out. Get silicone carbide belts, they go as high as 3000 grit, you can wet them and when wet they last much longer. Get a small spray bottle and set it for a fine mist and put just enough on to keep it wet, but not dripping so you make less of a mess.
Trugrit carries 3000 grit and down 2x72 belts that are called "Norax Engineered Ceramic" and they have some lower grit Trizact silicone carbide belts as well.
I have found that wet grinding with high grit in combination with hand finishing with diamond compound I can accomplish a mirror polish twice as fast as the traditional way and I keep my lines sharp so they don't look buffed. Also by a happy accident I found that hand polishing with diamond compound I can get a near mirror polish with D2 tool steel, something impossible to accomplish with a buffer.
Just FYI
https://trugrit.com/index.php?main_p...74bfb94c7f3a22 |
Upgrading my belts is in my future just not right now. My side hustle helping people quit smoking has been a little bit more successful than I anticipated so my customer base has gone having successfully quit smoking. As more funds come in from elsewhere I will work on upgrading the belt stash. I also need to get a 2x72 with variable speed on it as the Grizzly goes WAAAAY too fast on the high grits and burns the bejeebers out of my blades if I'm not ridiculously overcautious. Cooling the blade in ice water helps some but not enough to work comfortably.
All that being said you are absolutely correct. And if I'd gone to 800 grit on this blade the buffing compounds would have had me at a mirror finish in like 20 minutes. I just didn't have grits that high yet. My next knife however DID go up to 800 grit, same leaf spring, same differential heat treatment and it only took a few minutes to get the mirror out of it.