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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 09-07-2015, 04:28 PM
Neil McCauley Neil McCauley is offline
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Entry level 1"x30" belt sander?

I am planning my first project and need a sander for the scales and polishing a 440 ss blade and bolsters. What is a reasonable belt sander to start with?

I have looked at the
Grizzly Mini Belt Sander Grizzly Mini Belt Sander
but it has some bad reviews on amazon, are there any other options? I would like to keep it under $100.
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  #2  
Old 09-08-2015, 10:53 AM
Hunter10139's Avatar
Hunter10139 Hunter10139 is offline
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Location: Northern Alabama
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I have a couple questions. First, are you making one from scratch or making a kit knife? Second, what kind of polish are you wanting exactly, mirror or satin finish? Hopefully you aren't aiming for a mirror finish on your first project since it will likely get the crap scratched out of anyways and all your hard work will be for nothing.

I don't have any experience with bolsters as I don't care for them, however, for your blade and handle you'll likely need to finish them off with hand sanding rather than a belt sander. Some people use buffing wheels to put a mirror polish on a blade and to shine up their handle, but it isn't necessary for either and many of us don't like a mirror finish on a blade anyways. This means that your sander will mainly have three potential purposes, shaping the profile of the knife, grinding the bevels of the blade, and shaping your handle. For under 100 dollars, you can get a 1x30 that will perform the profiling of the blade and the shaping of the handle, but it's going to be difficult to get a good bevel grind with a 1x30. In fact, I believe I've only seen one guy on this forum have good success grinding bevels with a 1x30, and that's PoolQs(sorry if I omitted anyone else skilled with the 1x30, it was unintentional). If you are planning on attempting to grind bevels with this sander, I would say look for the sander in your price range that is of the highest quality you can find. If you are just shaping your profile and rough shaping your handle, harbor freight sells a 1x30 for 30 bucks that will perform those tasks just fine.


Edit: Correction, the harbor freight sander is $45.00 now. I think it was 30 when I got one a couple years ago but who knows.


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Last edited by Hunter10139; 09-08-2015 at 10:56 AM.
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  #3  
Old 09-08-2015, 05:35 PM
VanceHanna VanceHanna is offline
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I second the harbor freight sander i have it and i love it!
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  #4  
Old 09-08-2015, 06:44 PM
RedstickJP RedstickJP is offline
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The HF grinder worked fine to me, just took some getting used to. I know someone on here upgraded the motor on their HF 1 x 30 and they love it. I have since upgraded to a grizzly 2 x72, but that's because I got a nice tax refund lol. But for $40-50 it's a good starter, just takes longer to remove material. No sense in spending lots of money until you know it's a hobby you're going to stick with for the long haul
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  #5  
Old 09-08-2015, 07:51 PM
PoolQs PoolQs is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunter10139 View Post
I believe I've only seen one guy on this forum have good success grinding bevels with a 1x30, and that's PoolQs(sorry if I omitted anyone else skilled with the 1x30, it was unintentional).
Hunter is correct, I have been making knives for 2 years now and have ONLY used a 1x30.
I have made 28 knives with mine and have sold everyone that I have made. Now, is it the best
machine to use for this task? NO. But it is what I can afford and I really want to learn how to
make the best knife I can before I make the major leap into a 2x72.

This machine takes A LOT of patience and practice. 1x30 turns very fast and heats everything
up very fast. Where most makers can bevel out a blank in an hour or less, it might take me 4-5 hours.
I do use it for everything. Blanks, bolsters, scales, etc. I have an extensive array of belts for
my 1x30.

Use what is in your price range and learn to do the best with what you have. Once you have
gotten to a point of confidence, then you can move up in materials and machinery.

If you have any specific questions on how to's on the 1x30, feel free to ask.
Troy
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  #6  
Old 09-11-2015, 02:59 AM
BattleBorn BattleBorn is offline
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I have a 1x30 and even though I have upgraded I still use it on every knife. The 1 inch belt is good for handles. I have had mine for almost 3 years with no issues.
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  #7  
Old 09-11-2015, 04:46 PM
Lilmonsternsa Lilmonsternsa is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: San Antonio, Tx
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I have the HF 1x30 and have used it for a few months. But I found this little guy at my favorite flea market a few months ago for $15. At that price I had to get it and I am so glad I did. It sat in my garage until about 2 weeks ago when I first used it and boy is this thing a beast. I used it to dress chisels, punches and hammer heads for 2 hours straight and it never even came close to bogging down. The motor didn't get past warm either. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one at 3 times what I paid for it if it was in decent condition.


Well, I couldn't figure out how to post a picture but it is an older Delta 1x30 with a 5" disc.
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  #8  
Old 10-01-2015, 11:39 PM
Neil McCauley Neil McCauley is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hunter10139 View Post
I have a couple questions. First, are you making one from scratch or making a kit knife? Second, what kind of polish are you wanting exactly, mirror or satin finish? Hopefully you aren't aiming for a mirror finish on your first project since it will likely get the crap scratched out of anyways and all your hard work will be for nothing.
Thanks for the help, to answer your questions: It's the folder kit below, and a mirror finish might be great but I'm OK with satin if that's not realistic.


Last edited by Neil McCauley; 10-01-2015 at 11:51 PM.
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  #9  
Old 10-01-2015, 11:53 PM
Neil McCauley Neil McCauley is offline
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This is the kit.

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art, belt, blade, bolsters, grinder, grinding, handle, hobby, kit, kit knife, knife, making, material, mirror, motor, polish, post, profile, project, sander, satin finish, scales, scratch, what kind, wheels


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