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I grind my blades after they are hardened so naturally I won't get as many blades out of a belt as you might if you grind while the steel is still annealed. Even so, if I'm grinding small folder blades then I'll do more than one on a belt. The point of 'treat belts like they are free' is really that you shouldn't try to squeeze every ounce of cut out of one as that will often prove to be a false economy. The finer grits can be safely used more than the coarse grits. However, on the 400 grits I usually use more than one on a blade if it's at least 4" long because that's the best way I know to get the particular satin look that I like. Belts certainly are not free but they are part of the cost of making a knife and one of the reasons that custom knives are not cheap ...
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