Do More with Your Belt Grinder!

Belt grinders are the core tool for most knife makers. But belt grinders have an enormous number of uses in the shop beyond grinding knives. In this video blade smith Walter Sorrells shows some of these "bonus" uses that he finds for the belt grinder in his own shop.
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Twitter: @WalterSorrells
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[@joeman1224]

This channel is so important. Thank you so much Mr. Sorrells for continuing to share your knowledge and insights

[@killy2626]

I just bought my first belt grinder 2 days ago, still waiting to arrive. So this video arrives in perfect timing. Thanks a lot Walter!

[@balkamp8888]

Get some belts on the way, getting your whole rig set up and not being able to use it on day one sucks 😅

[@calebkeel6119]

You sound like Jungle Recon naming off uses for the reflective belt. I love it! Great ideas and tips Thank You!

[@davemccracken6436]

This has just so much info, and some of that ol' common WS humor! Thanks Walter!

Great tips! Thanks.

[@balisticsquirel]

But i've got a lathe for pencil sharpening.

[@jaydubya7012]

Love the table, Hail state !!

[@DoggoWillink]

The structured abrasive belts are great to me for their feel. They conform a lot to the bevel, even the lower grit ones, and this makes a huge difference for certain things. They really will take out the deeper scratches from previous belts (this is especially important if you grind by hand like I do, because you usually have to “blend” things if you aren’t highly skilled, like I am not). Unless your grind is perfectly flat and you put the bevel up to the platen correctly every time, you’ll miss scratches, and these belts help to get around that. This way when you finish it by hand, if you do, it saves a ton of time.

[@chadlewis3515]

I own a small business based on knife and tool sharpening (also repair and restoration services). A 2x72 belt grinder is the primary sharpening device in the shop although I have several different methods I can use, including stones. As for the belt grinder, it does a great job like Walter says. My best advice would be don't sharpen anything important without first practicing on stuff you don't mind ruining, or at least stuff you don't mind re-doing a few times. This goes double if, like Walter, you don't have adjustable speed. Walter's The Man on a belt grinder and can probably carve a piece of wax with a worn out 240 grit belt going 1400 feet per minute without melting it, but you can't. Believe me, until you practice some there's no getting around burning a few edges. It's not like hogging off metal or shaping. The edge of a knife or tool is a small, thin piece of metal and bad things happen quickly. You don't even have to see a color change for the temper to be affected, so go slow and cool the work as soon as you feel a little heat. All this is pretty hard if you can't slow down the grinder, and I consider adjustable speed necessary if you wanna go much farther than Walter does with edge sharpness. Higher grits get you more heat, so slower speeds become more important. But, put some time into practicing and it's a fast way to sharpen.

[@EternitySoundDesign]

.... As soon as my grinder build is finished. Almost done, likely be ready before the end of the year! :D

[@rtoguidver3651]

In the old days we had a 3 head stone sharpener, then the belt sander came along and our knives only lasted 1/3 as long because of material loss, but sharpening time was increased by 2/3's.

[@adamtankersley7441]

The drill trick works great for sharpening TIG tungsten too. (Just have to get the grind parallel-ish to the centerline)

[@jvmiller1995]

I use a 100grit and a drill to sharpen my tig tungsten. Along with almost every thing you mentioned.

[@kmcgovern2012]

I gotta say. I do all my sharpening on my grinder. I do have variable speed, which is very helpful. I use norax belts up to a30 then use a stropping belt loaded with green chrome compound. Works extremely well.

[@MegaChekov]

Hi Walter Thanks for sharing all great videos You got me convinced I needed a 72 x 2 belt grinder made my own take a look on my Chanel all the best from John in Texas Thanks again

[@lsubslimed]

Yes sir, I have indeed sharpened pencils quite a few times on my grinder lol. 👍 With regard to trying different belts, one thing I like to do is whenever I place an order in for new ones I'll also add 1 or 2 different belts (or more depending on the price) that I've never tried before, which I've done with cork belts, Norton structured-ceramic (great belts but $$), Norax, different types of trizacts, different brands of aluminum oxide to see which leaves a better finish and lasts longer in 220-400 ranger, different "lastest and greatest" (or cheap) ceramic belts (one example the purple Bora belts from SuperGrit a few years ago, which pretty much sucked, but I only paid for one so, hey!). And don't forget the different surface conditioning belts like scotchbrite and other brands of it. It helps keep the prices low by trying 1 or 2 different individual belts each order, so you can forget about it if it's not what you like or order more if it is, while at the same time after a few belt orders you can try a fair amount belts you never would have in the first place by stinkin with what you know or like. Of course after doing this a while you'll settle on what you like and which work best for do, and so you may not really have any need to try anything else, but it helps when you're just getting into knifemaking and/or you are a hobbyist or on a budget etc.

[@patrickhance7211]

Good exple nation Walter 👍pat from Belgium 🔪

[@stormiewutzke4190]

Good video. I always enjoy them. One little tip that I have used is I keep a spray bottle of soapy water next to the grinder. When sharpening or finish grinding I can grind wet. It's way easier and fast than setting up a wet system and it only cost $3

[@richardainsworth4357]

You are a great inspiration sir! Thank you so much! Sorry about your shop.:(

[@WalterSorrellsBlades]

I'm working on it. Most of mine have fallen apart!

[@LetsPrepTogether]

Using fresh polishing belts without compound works great to burnish the edge of kydex sheaths

[@mlankford6077]

I thought I was the only one that sharpened my pencils on the belt grinder!

[@andreiandreev6747]

Hi Walter First of all thank you very much for sharing your experience! It's really priceless for beginning knifemaker like me! I can't find any information about delivery service on the combatabrasives website. If they do that will they do it to Ireland? Thanks

[@rodeosound]

I subscribed a long time ago brother

[@bol8lod]

Can you try a gray backdrop . The white is hurts my eyes . gray waxed canvas will be beautiful. What do you think? I love and enjoy your videos i learned so much from your channel . Keep it up

[@elijahschminke6931]

yup, i sharpen my pencils on my bg all the time.

[@firefn6945]

was that a big magnet in the handheld (belt grinder) surface grinding tool?

[@JamesKeeton1]

Do you always sharpen on the belt grinder with the edge up? I've been doing it edge down...

[@WLS_Churchill]

Can't remember how many screw i shortened with the grinder

[@theodorechan8665]

pencil sharpening vs steel rod sharpening; you turn the pencil against the belt direction but the steel rod in the drill chuck you spin with the belt direction. any reason?

[@CraigLYoung]

Murray State?

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

Can't find Sunmax belts on Combats' website. The beige belt in the video with the rectangular holes. Looks good- what grits are there? Only 3M conditioning belts on Combat Abrasives site. Bet you got first look at them and they're not up on the site yet. ..

[@lsubslimed]

James Barisitz - That's what I was thinking. I did a Google search and couldn't find a single abrasive with the name "Sunmax", the closest thing (in name) is "Sunmight". I'd be interested in trying them as well 👍

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

@@lsubslimed Thanks for sharing. Thought I was losing it! Still wish the Combat Abrasives webstore was easier to navigate - it's a pain.

[@johnmurphy2642]

for the guy who can only have a 1 (one) speed 72 inch grinder, what RPM motor would work best for blade grinder and general purpose?

[@lanehill6123]

I think you are in love with your belt grinder... Lol

[@oldpuebloforge]

I sharpen pencils with mine!

[@balkamp8888]

Have yet to sharpen a pencil on my grinder lol

[@MsKessik]

grab a box and go to town, nothing like having a steady supply of sharpened ultra fine pencils laying around. I swear i lose more pencils than i buy.

[@ManCrafting]

I never would have believed how much I would rely on my belt grinder for things other than knives. That's not even the majority of the use currently.

[@daltonramsey9585]

I have always wondered how long after finishing a job should you leave your respirator on. I always see people finish sanding or grinding and then remove the mask. Wouldnt there still be a fair amount of dangerous particles in the air? Is there a good rule of thumb for this? I bought a belt grinder last year to do some work on an axe that I was restoring and I didn't wear a mask when I removed the chips from the axe head or when I was sanding down the new axe handle and I have become a bit paranoid about that stuff now.

[@WinterXI]

hey you say about sharpening knives on belt sander, what grit of belt would you start with on a knife with absolutely no edge? after making a knife it almost takes me like an hour to sharpen it with my lansky sharpener and using my belt sander would help alot lol

[@aslob9321]

winter XI + I use a 180 AO belt and that works great. Takes about 5 minutes to sharpen every knife in my block.

[@TimCraneMostLegit]

Have you ever thought about using 2 opposing grinders on XY vices to do hollow grinds?

[@hubifornia]

I took a tour at Hogue knives and that's how they do their hollow grinds, apparently it's a little tricky.

[@TimCraneMostLegit]

@@hubifornia Thats good to know. Some day I'll try that.

[@GibClark]

👍👍👍👍

[@qzb2ymig]

Why do I watch these? Now I need to buy me a belt grinder!

[@RedBeardOps]

It got me to buy one! Totally worth it...

[@claybornowski8685]

What brand belt grinder do you have?

[@RedBeardOps]

I'm fairly sure he as a Bader 2x72

[@sandrokraner3607]

Lets's not forget it's the best tool to grind of your knuckles.

[@wumarNart]

You really like to use them Spongebob pencils.

[@KowboyUSA]

Do you have experience bending "german silver"? Mine's 1/4" x 1" and I think it's the standard 60% copper, 20% nickel, 20% zinc. It's a 12" bar I want to bend into a D guard for a large Bowie. I don't want to melt it when I heat it to bend it into the D guard *is there a particular color - or other indicator - that will tell me it's ready to bend?*

[@lsubslimed]

John Ratko - I've yet to actually use any nickel silver but from what I've read it can vary quite a bit in its alloying and thus it's forgeability. I would just anneal it and then bend it a bit while cold, then anneal again, and bend again until you get the desired shape. You can always cut a small piece(s) off and test forge it hot to see if it will stay together or crack/crumble etc. It's forging temp would be in the 1800F (orange) range if its makeup is decent for forging _(edited to add: it melts at about 2030F)_. To anneal just heat to a dull red then quench in water. It'll work harden while bending so make sure to anneal often. I think 416 or even 410 stainless is one of the best ways to go for knife fittings, unless you want the specific color that NS has to begin with as well as when it begins tarnishes/patinates. Bronze is also nice but is expensive and is obviously a different color than NS or stainless. Anyway, you can also do a quick google search on "forging nickel silver" ( or bending) and I'm sure you'll find plenty of info. ******Also, since it has zinc in it make sure you have a lot of ventilation if forging it, as zinc fumes are toxic! Look up "metal fume fever".******

[@KowboyUSA]

@@lsubslimed I need about 11.5" - guess I can cut a little test piece to see if it'll become easier to bend once annealed.

[@irianthul]

Don't be too worried about melting it. If it is indeed that composition, its melting temperature is more than 1100 degrees Celsius, or 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. If you're heating it up with your standard propane torch that's gonna be tough to achieve. Aim for a bright red, orange is too far, yellow is definitely too far. For reference, you want to be medium cherry in this chart: www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/metal-color-temp-chart-png.100306/ Also, keep in mind that it work hardens quite fast. I don't know what metals you're used to bending but if you're in doubt, just reheat it again. It works different than steel in the sense that heating it up and cooling it in water actually anneals it instead of hardening it.

[@KowboyUSA]

@@irianthulthat's what I needed to know. Never worked with german silver, so was worried the zinc in the alloy might cause it to melt at a low temperature. Mostly work with steels. Thanks for the chart.

[@graphguy]

Thanks for the common sense point about what is sharp enough. I have a friend who will spend an hour to sharpen his EDC... what a waste.

[@TerryPullen]

I don't like to recommend anything with a power cord to sharpen a knife that you care about (like a Tactix Armory knife) because regular grinding will shorten its lifespan. On the other hand, Walter is a master with a belt grinder and could probably out sharpen just about anybody.

[@badwolf6398]

He must go to college at Georgia Tech. :-P

[@jasoncook6301]

Hail state! Lol

[@josephrector8735]

This the knifemakers version of bubba's shrimp speach..

[@housevollmer9106]

If your actually going to shave, 10,000 or 12,000 isn’t dumb, but for the kitchen or pocket, anything under 3000 isn’t enough...

[@frankdarko7536]

Tronco la miniatura del vídeo me ha confundido jajaj

[@ifell3]

Now,,, too me you sharpen a knife on a grinder backwards, don't you run the chance of it catching and flipping? There must be a reason behind the madness?

[@Yonatan24]

I don't understand it too. Seems crazy. Isn't it to prevent a burr from forming?

[@Yonatan24]

I can't even sharpen a knife on a stone without it catching!

[@thereallevel27]

It's the correct way for me... I was told when I was 5, always sharpen towards the blade

[@Yonatan24]

@@thereallevel27 I've seen (KZbinrs) do this hundreds if not thousands of times, and there hasn't been a single time I hadn't wondered this. A slight variation in the belt, or a second of carelessness, and a razor sharp knife is flying at you at insane speeds. Why?

[@thereallevel27]

@@Yonatan24 not anymore dangerous than the grinder already is lol. When the belts snap it's a highlight of the day for sure

[@NavinBetamax]

Please.........I don't know the nut and bolt of shortening a BOLT ......!! Lol !

[@charliejosephmedina693]

19th comment

[@michaelpitman772]

Seems most my grinder jobs are for the grinder...oh the irony

[@bosnakedisniksic]

Tell me why I read that thumbnail as "Do More With Your Gender"?

[@madbearforge8550]

bosnakedisniksic it’s a sign of the times, buddy. Can’t be too careful these days 😄